Against the Current
by Deplora
Summary: [DISCONTINUED]AU Sequel to These are the Days College life for our Kingdom Hearts friends. Lots of Squffie and a little SoKairi, CloudAerith, and RikuZephyr Genre is a little of everything with a little adult humor dispersed throughout
1. Chapter One: Changes

_Author's Note: _Well, here we go. The sequel to "These are the Days," as promised. Anyways, it was around the end of February in the story when "These are the Days" ended. I'm going to skip a little bit and start this story at the very beginning of May....finals week for our college students, the last week before summer vacation begins. Oh, and an age reminder for this semester after some birthdays: Yuffie - 19, Squall - 27, Aerith - 22, Cloud - 23, Sora - 18, and Kairi - 18.And, like "These are the Days," this will mainly focus on the Squffie aspects of the story, with just a _little _bit of Cloud/Aerith and Sora/Kairi. And, there may also be just a tiny itsy bitsy pinch of Riku/Zephyr, but I can't guarantee anything. Okay, enough with this and get to writing, right? Right.

Oh, and there will be a little bit of adult humor dispersed throughout the story. 

On another note: I forgot that I promised a party if I got 100 reviews, so here we go. It's going to be BYOB: Bring Your Own Bishie. Except, you can't have Squall because I have him. And Vulpes Lapis claims she has dibs on Riku, so the rest of you can fight over the remaining bishies. But, let the party begin!!!! 

[Disclaimer: Okay, I will give the standard disclaimer now. But, beware, I will soon be adding things to it in future chapters. I do not own the characters portrayed in this story. Disney and Square Enix do.]__

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_AGAINST THE CURRENT_

_Chapter One: Changes_

"Kairi, I have a problem," Yuffie whined as she let herself into their dorm after work Sunday night. She let the door slam shut behind her as she walked across the short distance to the bedroom area of the room. 

The red-head looked up from the textbook she was studying to glare at Yuffie. "You better have a good reason for interrupting me," she growled.

Yuffie stifled a laugh. "You know, you're awfully gripey when you have a test to study for."

"Look. I'm barely passing psychology as it is, and this friggin' final is worth fifty percent of my grade." She shut the book slowly, marking her place with a notecard. "Okay, what's your problem, Yuf?"

Yuffie threw herself down on her bed. "I don't make enough money at the pet store to cover the cost of renting an apartment over the summer," she sighed.

"So, move back home over the summer," Kairi told her, stating the obvious.

Yuffie sat up and gave the red-head a simmering glare. "If I move home, I'll be subjected to a blind date every weekend. Plus," she raised a finger emphatically, "ever since my mother found out about Squall and I, they've cut me off financially. So, even if I do move home, they'll cage me up like some kind of animal in heat."

Kairi nodded slowly. "You're that heated? Go see Squall, he'll be happy to help."

A slow blush spread across Yuffie's cheeks. "I would, but, um...we've been taking things real slow since...um, you know...." she stammered, trailing off to let Kairi fill in the blanks herself.

The red-head smiled. "Probably difficult to restrain yourself sometimes, isn't it?"

"I-, um...we..uh....yeah, you're right," she finally admitted, grinning sheepishly. Yuffie shook her head, "But, to get back to the current problem, what am I going to do over the summer? There's no way in hell I'm going back to my parents' house, but I can't afford an apartment either."

"Yuffie, have you tried looking for a roommate? You know, to help cover the rent of an apartment?" Yuffie shook her head. "Geez, that should have been the first thing you did." 

"But, I don't want to room with a complete stranger." She lay back down on the bed, thinking of a way to stay out of her parents' house for the summer. "What about you? Where are you going?" she called across the room.

Kairi, who had just begun studying again, looked back at her roommate. "Hm? Oh, Sora and I are moving into an apartment as soon as finals are over. With us both working, we can just cover the expenses."

Yuffie let out a loud sigh, "Well, I guess I can't room with you over the summer, then, can I?"

"If you can't find anywhere else to stay, I guess you, Sora, and I can split the rent three ways," Kairi told her hesitantly. 

"No, no...I wouldn't want to _intrude_ on any of your _moments_ like I have in the past." Yuffie shuddered, remembering that only a few weeks ago she had come home early and walked in on Kairi and Sora. "I'll find a place to stay...even if it's a cardboard box on the side of the road." With that, she got up from the bed, grabbing her car keys and backpack as she headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Kairi called.

Yuffie grinned. "Squall's. We have our biology final tomorrow, so we're going to study." As Kairi opened her mouth to say something, Yuffie stopped her. "And we're actually going to study. And it's not going to be the kind of biology you're thinking. You really need to get your mind out of the gutter, Kairi." Yuffie raised her eyebrows as she said this.

"Sure, Yuffie. You and Squall go _study._" As Yuffie opened the door, she hollered, "And for your information, I wasn't even thinking dirty. So, you need to get _your_ mind out of the gutter."

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At his apartment, Squall and Yuffie were sitting on the floor to study, his back against the couch and Yuffie against his chest. She leaned her head on his shoulder while she held the biology textbook in front of them, open to the last chapter they were to study that night. Her eyes slowly drooped shut and the book slid out of her hands. 

Squall smiled down at her, debating on whether he should let her sleep or wake her up. But, he didn't debate long, as she jerked herself awake a moment later. "I'm not sleeping!" she exclaimed as she came to, picking up the book from where it had fallen.

A deep chuckle escaped his throat. "I didn't say you were."

"Well...you were...thinking it." She felt him kiss the top of her head as she went back to reading about dominate and recessive genes. Moments later, the book had fallen out of her hands again as she succumbed to sleep once again.

Squall waited for her to awaken, but after a few minutes, he realized that wasn't going to happen. "Yuffie," he whispered, pushing her gently off his chest. "Yuffie," he tried again, this time louder.

"I'm awake," she mumbled through heavy lidded eyes.

"No, you're not," Squall told her as he stood up, pulling her with him. "Come on." He picked her up and carried her to his bedroom, setting her down as he pulled the covers back for her. "Lay down," he commanded gently, pushing her down on the bed. 

"Okay, whatever you say," she murmured, still half-asleep.

Squall leaned over, pulling her shoes off before covering her with the blanket. "Goodnight," he whispered as he kissed her forehead. He walked back to the living room, stooping over to pick the biology book up off the floor before sitting down on the couch. Flipping through the remaining chapter, he sighed and looked at the clock. 11:47. _I really should go to bed, _he thought. _The bio final exam is in the morning. _ With that thought, Squall went to the spare bedroom and grabbed a blanket from the closet before heading back to the couch. He lay down, struggling to get comfortable, and fell asleep.

The next morning, Yuffie awoke as the alarm clock went off at precisely eight o'clock. Still asleep, she swung her arm around to hit it, like she did every morning, only to find it wasn't there. In fact, the bedside table wasn't even there. She slowly opened her eyes, finding herself in Squall's room. Confused, she quickly looked over at the other side of the bed, expecting to find him there. But he wasn't, that half of the bed not even appearing disturbed.

Reaching across the bed, she turned his alarm clock off and arose, finding herself still in the clothes she had worn the night before. "Okay...we were studying....and I was tired..." she mumbled as she walked out of the bedroom and to the living room. She let out a small laugh at the scene there. Lying on the floor between the coffee table and the couch was Squall, his blanket tangled around his legs.

Sitting on the couch, she leaned over and brushed the long russets bangs from his eyes. She winced when she saw the scar running between his eyes. She had the same reaction every time she saw it: guilt because she had been the one to mar his face. As she continued to push the hair from his face, his nose crinkled from the tinkling sensation. Smiling impishly as an idea came into her head, she slid off the couch and onto the floor with a plan to wake him up. She leaned over and began a deep kiss, placing one hand on his bare chest; Squall's eyes jerked open as his mouth began to respond to hers.

Yuffie pulled away and smiled. "You awake now?" she asked playfully.

He sat up, gazing at her. "What time is it?" he inquired, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Just after eight," Yuffie told him, rising from the couch to make some coffee in the kitchen. "It's a good thing your alarm clock went off. I need to get back to my dorm and get ready for class," she called from the kitchen.

"You could always get ready here, ya know," he said as she came back into the living room, carrying two mugs of coffee.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah...I'd have the option of wearing the clothes I wore yesterday, which are wrinkled, or," she paused. "I could wear your clothes which are way too big on me."

"Okay, I see your point," Squall conceded, taking a drink of the hot liquid. He watched as Yuffie finished her coffee and grabbed her backpack. "Leaving already?" 

"Yes, I told you that I have to get ready for school." She leaned over, intending on giving him a quick kiss, only to have him pull her into a deeper one. When he reluctantly let her go, she was panting slightly. "Squall, I really have to go." She pecked him on the cheek before digging her car keys out of her backpack and heading for the door. Turning around, she blew him a kiss. "I'll see you in class."

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Yuffie arrived back at her dorm by nine o'clock, immediately throwing her backpack onto her bed and grabbing her stuff to take a shower. Kairi stopped her, peeking out from under her blankets to look at her. "Did you and Squall _study_ last night, Yuffie?" she chided.

"Yes, we did. And it's not what it looks like, Kairi." The red-head raised her eyebrows, waiting for her roommate to continue. "I fell asleep, so Squall let me stay the night."

Kairi stifled a small laugh. "So, you studied 'hands-on' biology, then?"

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "No, Kairi. We didn't even share the bed. He slept on the couch."

"Do you really expect me to believe that, Yuffie?"

Shaking her head, Yuffie ignored her and stepped into the bathroom for her shower. She rushed it, knowing she had to be in class soon for her biology final. Quickly drying her hair, she pulled on her blue jeans and blouse, grabbed her bag and ran for the door.

"Yuffie?" Kairi called as her roommate reached the door.

"What? I'm going to be late."

The red-head laughed. "You might want to put on some shoes before you go," she told her, pointing at her bare feet.

Sighing, Yuffie found some flip-flops and shoved them on her feet before running out the door and to class. She pushed through the doors to the auditorium where her biology class was and took her seat next to Squall, who immediately placed his arm around her. 

"Ready?" he whispered into her ear.

"Yes...no...maybe....I don't know," she said anxiously, chewing on the eraser of her pencil.

Squall rubbed her shoulder with his hand. "Calm down. You'll do fine." The professor walked into the room just then, carrying the exams in both hands. His assistants came forward and passed the exams out, while he gave the standard warnings about the punishment for cheating. 

Calming herself, Yuffie opened the test booklet and began the exam.

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Somehow Yuffie made it through the rest of her finals that week without too much stress and worry. Friday night, she went to Squall's apartment for takeout and a movie. It was a small celebration for making it through finals week.

As they were eating their dinner, Chinese, Yuffie kept laughing at Squall who seemed to be having trouble managing the chopsticks. Squall's embarrassment grew when he realized how proficient Yuffie was with them, while he continued to drop rice down his shirt.

"Here, give me your chopsticks," Yuffie demanded, reaching out a hand.

Squall raised an eyebrow. "Why?" he asked as he handed them over.

"Because I'm going to fix them for you," she explained as she took them into the kitchen. A few moments later, she handed them back to Squall, a rubber band holding the upper ends together and a folded-up piece of paper shoved right under it. "There."

He looked at them strangely for a moment, remembering that it was usually little kids who had their chop sticks rigged like this. Sighing, he decided it was better than nothing and continued to eat. "So, Yuf, you know where you're going to stay over the summer, yet?" he asked between bites. 

"As of right now, Kairi has offered to let me move in with her and Sora when they get their apartment." She rubbed her eyes. "I guess I'll have to do that until I can find another place to stay."

"You know, I do have a spare room. You can always stay here if you want," he told her, smiling.

She perked up. "Really? Do you mean it?" He nodded as she tackled him in a hug. "I owe you. I don't know how I'll ever repay you."

"Well, you could always be my love-slave," he said quietly. 

Yuffie pulled away from him, her eyes wide in surprise. She was half repulsed, yet half excited by the idea too. "Um..."

"Yuffie, I'm kidding!" he laughed.

"Damn," she said softly.

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The next day, Yuffie began packing her stuff to move in with Squall while he was setting up a bed in his spare room for her. Although neither of them would mind sharing a bed, they didn't want to pressure the other, remembering what had happened only months before. So, Yuffie would be sleeping in the spare room, alone. 

"So, Yuf, you're really going to do it, huh?" Kairi asked, as she herself packed her things.

Yuffie looked up from the box she was packing and smiled. "Yeah...but, we're going to be sleeping in separate rooms, so it's not like we're going to be doing anything."

Kairi snorted. "I give you guys two days before you end up in the same bed."

"Kairi, I've told you before. We're taking things slow because a lot of stuff has happened between us." Yuffie paused for a moment, grinning sheepishly. "Besides, he hasn't _offered _to share his bed, and_ I'm_ not going to pressure him, no matter how much I want to."

The red-head dropped the box she was holding and gasped. "Did you just imply what I think you just implied?"

"Yeah, I did," Yuffie admitted. She pointed to the spilt contents of Kairi's box. "You might want to pick those up. Isn't Sora coming soon to help you move you're stuff out?"

Kairi bent over to pick up the box, grabbing the papers that had fallen out and shoving them back in. She looked at her watch. "Yeah, Sora should be here any minute now. What about Squall? Is he coming?"

Yuffie nodded. "He said he would be here after he finished putting the bed together in the spare room." She ignored the look on Kairi's face. "See? I told you he didn't want to share a bed."

"Okay, okay...you win. You two will sleep in separate rooms and will not share a bed...at least not right away," she mumbled the last part under her breath. There was a knock at the door and Kairi ran to answer it, hoping it would be Sora. "Sor--" she broke off when she realized who it was. "Oh, hi Squall. I thought you were Sora." She opened the door, allowing him entrance into the small dorm.

"Squall, I didn't expect you so soon," Yuffie said as she ran to him and hugged him tightly, resting her head against his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her, returning the affectionate hug and kissed the top of her head. "Well, the bed didn't take as long to set up as I thought it would. So, I thought I would help you pack." Looking around the room, he saw all the boxes. "But, it looks like you don't need my help."

Yuffie laughed, pulling away from him. "No, Kairi and I have been busy all morning. I just need you to help carry stuff out to the car, 'kay?"

"Sure." He glanced around the room at all the boxes. "Um...which ones are yours?"

Yuffie shook her head. "The ones that say 'Yuffie' on them."

"Oh, yeah. I guess that makes sense." Picking up one, he walked out the door to load it into his truck, realizing they were going to have to make a lot of trips from her dorm to the cars to get everything loaded. After several trips between the dorm and the parking lot, Yuffie had officially moved out of the dorm and moved in with Squall.

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Her first couple of nights living with Squall passed smoothly, her only complaint being the bed in her room was too hard. But then the nightmares came, cutting into her sleep time. At first, they were vague and she woke up quickly, not remembering much. However, each night they became more clear and she was unable to awaken herself from them. Bags began to form under her eyes.

"Yuffie, are you okay?" Squall asked one morning, noticing the dark rings under her eyes.

She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just had a nightmare last night and couldn't sleep." Seeing the concern in his eyes, she reassured him. "Don't worry. They'll go away in a couple of days."

Squall let the subject drop, realizing she didn't want to discuss it any further.

It was that night when the nightmare became too much for her.

_Yuffie looked around, seeing nothing but darkness. An unending darkness. There was not even the tiniest pinpoint of light. "Hello?" she called, trying desperately to see something in the darkness._

_ Then, a pair of yellow eyes appeared in front of her, soon followed by dozens more. They began to approach her while she backed up, only to trip and fall to the ground._

_ She screamed at the top of her lungs, praying she would be heard. But, no one came to her rescue. Still sitting where she had fallen, she felt the tears roll down her cheeks as the yellow eyes crept closer to her._

_ Feeling a sharp claw dig into her flesh, she yelped, reaching around and hitting it with her fist. Suddenly, she felt herself falling backward into the darkness, unable to stop herself._

She awoke as she hit the floor, still shaking from her recent nightmare. The glaring red numbers of her clock stood out against the darkened room. 2:17. Too scared to go back to her own bed, she stood up and walked down the hall to Squall's room.

Quietly opening the door, she walked over to where he was sleeping. She reached out a hand and gently shook his shoulder. "Squall?" she said softly. No answer. "Squall?" she said a little louder, this time he opened his eyes to look at her.

"Yuffie, what's wrong?" he murmured, not fully awake.

"I can't sleep," she whispered, feeling childish.

"Nightmares?"

"Yes. Can I...stay with you?"

"Yeah."

She didn't realize he had scooted over to make room for her. "Are you sure you don't mind?" she asked shyly.

"Yuffie?"

"Hm?"

"Just get in the bed!" he exclaimed.

"My, my, pushy, aren't we?" she said as she climbed beneath the covers, snuggling up against his chest. "By the way, thank you," she murmured as she quickly fell asleep with Squall's arms around her.

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Yuffie awoke the next morning lying in Squall's arms. Savoring the moment and not really wanting to get up just yet, she began to lightly trace her fingers down Squall's stomach. He twitched in reply. She stifled a giggle and continued, watching his face. 

"Yuffie, what are you doing?" he mumbled, eyes still closed against the warm sunlight shining through the windows.

"Nothing." He opened one eye to look at her. She smiled innocently at him.

"Will you please stop?" he asked.

She continued to smile and run her fingers down his stomach. "Why?"

"Because, if you don't things might get physical very quickly," he told her cryptically.

An sly grin graced her lips. "Well, you did say I could be your love-slave, remember?"

Squall grabbed her still roving hand, stopping it. "Damn her for remembering," he muttered under his breath.

Yuffie pulled her hand out of his grasp and began to lightly trace her fingers down his stomach again. "Squall?"

"What?" 

"I don't have to work today." 

"And?"

"And no one's expecting us to be anywhere today." She pulled herself up level to his face, keeping her fingers on his stomach. "And, it would be a shame to waste such a big bed, don't you think?"

The feathery soft touch of her fingers on his stomach slowly drove him over the edge. "You're right. It would be," he admitted as pulled her in for a kiss, a precursor to things to come.

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Author's Note: Okay. Chapter One is up and running of my new story. And, I'm going to say that you shouldn't expect this one to be updated as often as my others. I literally spent all day on this chapter. That's a first for me. So, I'll update it when I'm able. I'll try to update at least once a week. So, anyways, tell me what you think. Read and Review.


	2. Chapter Two: Surprises

Author's Note: Wow!! I'm really surprised at all the reviews just for that one chapter! I mean, 21!! That's the most reviews for one chapter that I have ever received. In fact, that's as nearly many reviews a couple of my stories totaled. So, to reward you guys for reviewing, I'm going to go ahead and write the next chapter and post it. Keep up the good work guys.

Note to DBH: Actually, the shadows in Yuffie's nightmares have no significance whatsoever. It was just my way of getting her into Squall's bed. ^_~ But, I did use the KH shadows just to tie it back to KH.

Note to Cookie: If you really want to write, I say go for it. That's how I got started. I had read like every Squffie in existence and decided I wanted to write my own. So, get to writing.

A NOTE FROM VULPES LAPIS TO ALL HER FANS: VL has asked me to leave a note in here telling everyone that she has limited access to the computer and it may be weeks or even months before she can update her stories again.

[Disclaimer: I do not own the characters portrayed below. Disney and Square do. Of course, the one original character in this chapter, Zephyr, does not belong to me either. She belongs to the wonderful Vulpes Lapis. And, if you've read ANY of my previous stories, you would know which one character I would own if I could. Let's say it together guys! SQUALL!!! Yeah, anyways, I don't own anything, okay?]

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_Chapter Two: Surprises_

"Squall, let's go see a movie tonight," Yuffie begged from her supine position on the couch. It was Saturday afternoon, her day off from her job at Wet Pets 'n' Critters. She propped herself up on her elbows to look at him sitting at the kitchen table going over some papers.

"Yuffie, as much as I would love to be in a darkened room with you, I do have a paper to write for class." Pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, he grimaced. He had spent the last three nights working on this paper and was getting no where fast. 

She sighed and lay back down. "Well, why did you sign up for summer classes anyways? It's just wrong to go to school in the summer."

"Because, I would like to graduate eventually. And if I take summer classes, that gets me a little closer to graduation," he explained for what seemed like the hundredth time that week. "Look, why don't you call your friends and go have a girls' night out or something. I'm going to be working on this paper all evening."

Yuffie sat up and smiled. "You sure you won't be lonely?" she asked.

"Yuf, I'm going to have plenty of company." She gave him a confused look before he clarified his statement. "It's going to be me, the computer, and a thesaurus until I get it done. Besides, I'll be able to get this done faster without you _distracting_ me."

Stifling the laugh bubbling in her throat, she walked seductively across the room to where he was sitting. She ended up behind him, stooping so she could rest her head on his shoulder and run her hands down his chest. "Distract you like this, you mean," she whispered huskily in his ear. 

"Yeah....that would be it." Squall took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on the papers in front of him, but with Yuffie's warm breath on his ear, it wasn't possible. "Yuffie..." he trailed off.

Laughing, she pulled away from him reluctantly after giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "Okay, I'll go call Aerith and Kairi, leaving you in peace so you can finish this paper. But," she smiled impishly, "as soon as that paper's finished...you know what I want."

She picked up the cordless phone lying on the coffee table to call Aerith. Quickly dialing the number, she waited for the green-eyed woman to answer. After the fourth ring, the answering machine came on. Rolling her eyes, Yuffie hung up after leaving a short message telling Aerith to call once she returned. "I bet she's with Cloud," she muttered. "Hey, Squall?"

"What?" 

"Do you have Cloud's phone number?" 

Squall furrowed his brows. "Yeah...why do you want Blondie's number?" As he said this, he pointed to an address book lying next to the phone's stand.

"Aerith's not home, and I'm assuming she's with Cloud. You know as well as I do that they can't be away from each other for more than a few hours," Yuffie explained as she flipped through the little book to the 'S' section. "Honestly, I don't see why Aerith doesn't just move in with him," she continued as she dialed Cloud's number.

Intrigued, Squall asked, "Well, why doesn't she?"

Yuffie smiled. "She says she has standards. And living together without being married happens to be a big one." While talking to Squall, Yuffie had been listening to the phone ring in her ear. On the eighth ring, she hung up, deciding they must not be there. "Well, I guess they're not there either." 

"They probably ran off and eloped," Squall joked.

Yuffie just rolled her eyes and walked down the hall to what was her room a couple of days ago. Of course, since she had crawled into bed with Squall the other night, she no longer slept in there. Both of them had gotten over their fear of pressuring the other and that was the end of sleeping in separate beds. But, most of her stuff was still in there, including Kairi's new phone number, so it was to the spare room she went to retrieve it, carrying the phone with her. Digging through the mess piled on her desk, she found the small slip of paper with the number written on it and dialed.

As the fourth ring sounded, Yuffie was beginning to wonder if anyone was there when the she heard a sleepy voice pick up. "Kairi, is that you?" Yuffie asked in bewilderment.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Kairi replied grumpily.

Yuffie laughed, remembering how grouchy the red-head could be when awakened. "What are you doing sleeping still? It's two o'clock."

There was a pause before she answered. "Well, Sora and I didn't get much sleep last night, if you get my drift," Kairi said hesitantly.

"More information than I needed to know, Kai. But, anyways, I was calling to find out if you wanted to go see a movie with me tonight."

"Did you and Squall have a fight?"

Shocked, Yuffie cried, "What?! What makes you think that?"

Kairi sighed on the other end of the line. "Well, since you moved in with him, you haven't even called me or anything."

"Oh, sorry about that. I guess I've been kinda busy lately, what with my job and unpacking," Yuffie told her, feeling guilty. "But, back to my question, do you want to see a movie tonight? You know, a girls' night out?"

"Sure. Your car or mine?"

Remembering Kairi's habit of hitting stationary objects when driving, Yuffie quickly replied, "Mine."

"Hey, Yuf, do you mind if I invite Zephyr, too?" the red-head asked before hanging up.

Smiling when she remembered how she had met Zephyr, Yuffie said, "No, go ahead. I haven't seen her in awhile anyways."

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After picking up both Kairi and Zephyr from their respective apartments, Yuffie drove towards the Rose Theater. "So, girls, what movie are we going to see?"

"I don't care. But can we get some food first, I'm starving," Zephyr said from the backseat of the small car.

Kairi turned to look at the gray-eyed woman. "Zephyr, you're always hungry."

"And you're point is?" she retorted.

Yuffie glanced Zephyr through the rearview mirror. "Okay...we'll go eat first. The food court at the mall alright with everyone?" Both girls nodded, giving Yuffie the go ahead. "The mall it is then." 

At the mall, the three girls were sitting around a small table, sharing nachos and being careful not to drip the cheese on themselves. A couple of guys walked past, causing Zephyr to say quietly, "Two and five."

Yuffie looked at her strangely. "What?"

"Oh, come on. Like you never rate the guys that walk past," Zephyr said exasperated.

"I can't say that I have," Yuffie told her hesitantly. "How does it work?"

Kairi slapped her forehead in disgust. "Yuf, you just judge them on a scale of one to ten...it's not that hard of a concept."

"Sorry, but I've never done it before. Sheltered life, remember?" Just then, another man walked past. "Seven?" Yuffie timidly asked.

"Eh, give or take," Kairi admitted. "I would have given him a six, but that's my opinion." She gave Yuffie a wicked grin. "So, tell me Yuf, what's it like living with Squall? Are you still in separate rooms?"

Zephyr turned to give Yuffie a confused look. "Wait a minute! You moved in with him, but you're staying in a different room?"

Yuffie blushed. "Well, we were in separate rooms. But I kept having nightmares, so he let me sleep with him."

Grinning triumphantly, Kairi said, "See, I told you it would only be two days before you were sharing the same bed."

"Hey!! It took three days, for your information." 

"So, you two do more than sleep in that bed, right?" Zephyr asked.

Yuffie smirked. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

"Well, okay. If you insist. I'll just have to start spying on you then," Zephyr stated matter-of-factly.

"Okay, fine. Yes we do more than sleep in the bed," Yuffie finally admitted, knowing she couldn't win between these two prying friends. "But, I'm not going to share any details. Alright?"

"Oh, but you will eventually. We'll find a way to drag it out of you," Kairi declared.

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After the movie, Yuffie dropped her two friends off at their apartments and went home to find Squall still at work on the computer. He didn't even look up when she walked in, but continued to type. Walking up behind him, she began running her fingers through his tangled mane of russet hair. "So, are you nearly done?" she asked.

"Almost. I just have to write one more paragraph." He tilted his head up to look at her standing over him. "Did you have fun tonight?"

Yuffie smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I did. It's been a long time since I had a girls' night out." Looking at the computer screen, she asked, "So, how about you?"

"Oh, yeah...tons of fun," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "About as much fun as pulling teeth."

"Well, you finish that paper and I'll be waiting for you in the bedroom. That way I won't _distract _you, to use your words." She kissed him gently, then went down the hall to their bedroom, glancing at the spare room on her way and silently laughing at the idea of them sleeping in separate rooms.

Changing into a tank top and pajama bottoms, she crawled into bed with the book she had bought at the mall earlier. She turned on the bedside lamp and began to read, quickly becoming engrossed in the lives of the characters. However, she had only been reading about fifteen minutes when Squall came into the room. She smiled innocently. "I thought you still had another paragraph to write?"

"I decided it can wait until morning." He began stripping off his shirt, carelessly throwing it across the room.

Yuffie marked her place in her book and placed it on the bedside table. "But, Squall, I wasn't _distracting_ you, now was I? I was just lying in here, innocently reading my book."

"Yuf, just the thought of you is distracting enough." Pulling back the covers, he slid beneath them and pulled her into his arms. "And adding a bed into the equation, well..." he trailed off as he began to kiss her, his lips soon leaving hers and traveling down her jaw and neck to her collarbone. 

"Squall, I love you," she said quietly yet firmly, no hint of hesitation in her voice.

He lifted his head, locking his azure eyes with her darker ones for a few moments before answering. "I love you, too, Yuffie."

"I know...I just wanted to make sure you knew, too." Smiling coyly, she asked, "Now, where were we?" as she pulled his lips back down to hers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Yuffie awoke to find herself draped across Squall and his arms still wrapped around her. Looking at the clock, she winced. She tried to slip out of bed without waking him, but found that every time she pulled away, his arms tightened. "Squall?" she whispered.

"Hm?" he mumbled, still half asleep.

"I have to get ready for work." She tried pulling away again, but failed.

He opened his eyes to look at her. "I thought you didn't need to be at work until two?" he muttered.

"I don't."

"Then why are you getting up?"

Yuffie smiled. "Because it's noon already."

"Oh." He reluctantly released her from his grip and went back to sleep.

After taking her shower, she emerged from the bathroom and found Squall still sleeping. She debated for a moment whether she should wake him up or let him sleep, but the latter finally won out when she remembered how little sleep they had actually gotten last night. Walking outside to bring the paper in, she read the date in shock. "Mother's Day. Great. And I haven't even given her my new number yet," Yuffie mumbled.

Once back in the apartment, she picked up the phone and dialed. Her mother picked up on the first ring. "Happy Mother's Day!" Yuffie exclaimed, awaiting the yelling that was sure to follow.

"Well, my daughter has finally decided to give me a call," Mrs. Kisaragi said on the other end. "For I knew, she was lying somewhere dead since she hasn't given me her new number yet. No, I just try to call her dorm and the operator says the lines been disconnected."

"Mom, I can explain. Things have been a little hectic around here. What with finals and work--"

Her mother cut her off. "Yuffie, you don't have to work. Just move back home and your father and I will find a husband for you."

Yuffie sighed disgustedly. "Mom, we are not going over that again. You know my sentiments."

Just then, Squall walked past, asking, "Who are you talking to?"

There was a pause on the line. "Yuffie, who is that? That sounded like a man."

"Mom, don't be mad. It's Squall...my roommate," Yuffie said quietly.

"MAD? I'M NOT MAD! I'M LIVID! YUFFIE HANA KISARAGI, GET HOME RIGHT NOW! YOU'VE BEEN CORRUPTED!"

Yuffie held the phone away from her ear, wincing as her mother continued to yell through the phone. Squall looked at her. "Yuffie Hana?" he asked.

She shrugged. "It has yellability." Realizing that the yelling had stopped, she brought the phone back to her ear. "Mom, I'm an adult now and I can do what I want. I'm not a child anymore. Here's my new phone number if you need to reach me." Quickly giving her the new number, she ignored the guilt trip her mother was trying to lay on her. "Mom, I have to go. I have to get ready for work."

Before Yuffie had a chance to hang up, she heard her mother yell, "Yes, and I can imagine what kind of work that is. You've been corrupted, Yuffie. And I--"

Gritting her teeth, she slammed the phone down on the receiver. The phone immediately rang. Picking it up, Yuffie yelled, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" thinking it was her mother.

"Yuffie?" a timid voice asked.

Grimacing, Yuffie began to apologize. "Aerith, I'm so sorry. I thought you were someone else and--"

Aerith interrupted her. "Yuf, I just wanted to call and tell you that I won't be home for awhile."

"Why? Did something happen? Are you okay?" Yuffie asked worriedly.

"Yes, I'm fine. Yuf, are you sitting down?"

"Aerith ,tell me!"

"I'm in Annapolis, Yuffie," Aerith said quietly.

"Annapolis? What are you doing in Annapolis?" Confused, Yuffie rubbed her forehead.

There was a pause. "I'm on my honeymoon."

"Your WHAT? Are you trying to say you got married?" Yuffie yelled into the phone.

"Cloud and I eloped, Yuf."

Yuffie's eyes went wide. "Wait a minute! You eloped and didn't even invite me?"

Squall, who had been listening in on Yuffie's side of the conversation, spoke up. "That's the point of eloping, Yuf."

"But...but....but..." Yuffie stammered.

"Listen, Yuf, I've got to go. I'll call you later, okay?" Aerith said quickly.

Yuffie nodded dazedly, not realizing that Aerith couldn't see the nod. Hanging up the phone gently, she sat on the couch in shock. "Cloud and Aerith eloped and didn't invite us."

"You just wanted to catch the bouquet," Squall told her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yuffie straggled in the door after work at 11:30 that night, and stumbled down the hall to the bedroom where Squall was reading. She smiled tiredly at him and walked into the bathroom to take her shower. After her shower, she slipped into her pajamas and opened the door to let the steam out of the bathroom. As she reached for the bottle of Advil, she felt Squall wrap his arms around her from behind and kiss the back of her neck. 

"What's the painkiller for?" he asked concernedly.

She leaned back against him as she took two pills. "I think I held my arms above my head too much. My upper back is killing me." She chased the pills with a glass of water.

Squall turned her around to face him. "Yuffie, you don't have to work, you know. I have enough money saved in the bank to support us both while we go to school."

Yuffie rubbed her eyes. "I know. But I'm not going to be like my mother. I don't want to be completely dependent on anyone like she is." She looked up at him suddenly. "Hey, where did you get all that money, anyways?"

"When my parents died a few years ago, they left me everything. All the life insurance, everything." He closed his eyes at the painful memory of his parents' death.

Hugging him, Yuffie tried to comfort him. "I'm so sorry, Squall."

He smiled sadly. "It's okay...it was awhile back." Following Yuffie out of the bathroom, he watched as she eased herself down on the bed, groaning as her back began to ache. She rolled over onto her stomach and sighed. 

Squall climbed onto the bed and straddled her upper legs, careful to keep most of his weight on his knees. She tried to roll over and look at him. "What do you think you're doing, Squall?" she asked, pretending to be angry.

"Just roll over and relax." She continued to stare at him. "Trust me," he told her, to which she finally listened. He began to massage the tense muscles in her upper back, listening to her moan as he rubbed a knot out of her back. Continuing down her spine, he managed to rub most of the pain out of her muscles.

"Squall, you have magic hands," she mumbled sleepily after a few minutes.

"You should see what else they can do," he replied suggestively as he allowed the massage to become more sensual. She didn't answer him. "Yuffie?" he called quietly. That was when he noticed that her breathing had slowed and had become more rhythmic. Sighing, he got off of her and lay down next to her. "Yuf, I love you, but you have a lousy sense of timing," he whispered as he pulled his book back out and began reading again.

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Author's Note: I have spent two days on this chapter. I hope everyone likes it. Please Read and Review. I think I'll be updating twice a week at the very most, so don't expect the next chapter until after the weekend maybe.


	3. Chapter Three: Pets

Author's Note: Okay...here we go! Chapter Three is now up and running. Read and Enjoy....and most importantly, REVIEW!!! Hehe. I love my reviews. 

And, I'm sorry it's taking me longer to get chapters up than it did in my previous stories. I have papers piling up for school...well, that, and my muse has become addicted to Final Fantasy X and wants to play it all day instead of write. But, I'm trying. Let's see, I started this chapter March 14. 

Also, if any of you like Final Fantasy X, then I want you to go read "Meets the Eye, Meets the Heart," by Vulpes Lapis. Please? For me? And, be sure to review it. You know how much we authors love our reviews. Okay, that's my advertisement of the day.

[Disclaimer: Yes, I own all of the characters portrayed in the story. And if you believe that, I have some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you. Yeah....I know, that's a George Strait song. So sue me....no, not really. And to prevent that from happening, let me write the real disclaimer. Disney and Square own all the characters except for Zephyr (if she's in this chapter) who is the sole property of one Vulpes Lapis. Happy now? I wrote a real disclaimer.]

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_Chapter Three: Pets_

Sitting in the recliner, Squall was aimlessly flipping through the many channels on the TV, not finding anything decent to watch on any of them. Finally giving up, he turned it off and closed his eyes, intent on taking a short nap until Yuffie came home work at the pet store. Just as he was about to succumb to sleep, the shrill ring of the phone jolted him awake. He picked up the cordless handset on the third ring. "Hello," he mumbled groggily.

"Were you sleeping, Squall?" Yuffie asked, amusement in her light voice.

Squall smiled at the sound of her voice. "No. I wasn't asleep yet, but all these sleepless nights are starting to catch up with me."

There was a small laugh on the other end of the line. "Well, Squall, if you're complaining, we can always stop our nightly _activities_."

"No, I'm not complaining....just stating a fact. And you don't want to stop any more than I do," he teased. Thinking for a moment, he continued, "Why are you calling, anyway? Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"Oh, yeah. Do you think you could find room for a twenty-gallon fish tank?" Yuffie asked excitedly.

Squall looked around the living room of the apartment. "We could put it in front of the window. That's the only place I can see where it would fit."

"Perfect. I'll be home in a couple of hours. Love ya." She hung up before Squall could answer, leaving him wondering what type of fish she was planning on bringing home. He shrugged, knowing it could be anything from a pair of guppies to a tankful of piranhas with her.

Like she promised, Yuffie came waltzing through the apartment door a couple of hours later, carrying an empty fish tank. "Ya know, Squall, you could help me," she said.

He arose from the recliner where he was still sitting and took the tank from her, carrying it over to the window and placing it on a long table beneath the window. Turning around, he saw that Yuffie had already left the apartment to get the rest of the stuff from her car. She returned a few moments later carrying two boxes that said "Live Animals" on the top. Confused, Squall asked, "Yuffie, where's the fish?"

She gave him a strange look. "Who said anything about fish?"

"Then what's the fish tank for?" 

"It's a surprise. I think you'll like it." Smiling, Yuffie opened one of the boxes, revealing two white mice.

Squall stared at the mice for a minute or two. "Mice? Is that the surprise?"

She laughed. "No, silly. This is." Opening the other box, she pulled out a reddish-brown snake which was around three-feet long. "The mice are just its dinner."

Squall's eyes widened. "Yuffie, what is that?"

"It's called a snake, Squall. But, more specifically, it's a Rosy Boa."

"I know it's a snake, but what is it doing in the apartment?" Squall began to back up slowly, bumping into the couch on the way.

She gave him a long look as she allowed the snake to slither over her arms and hands. "Don't tell me your afraid of a little ole snake, Squall."

"I'm–, I'm not afraid. I–, I just don't like them," he stuttered, edging around the back of the couch and backing into the kitchen.

"I don't believe it. You're afraid of snakes." Giving him an incredulous look, she put the snake back into the box so she could finish setting up its habitat. 

Squall visibly calmed down once the snake was out of sight. He slowly made his way back into the living, grabbing a heavy book from the bookcase and placing it on the box lid. "Yuffie, that thing," he pointed to the box, "can't stay here."

Removing the book from the top of the box, she reached in and pulled the snake out again, holding it out to Squall, who was rapidly backing his way into the kitchen. "It's just a snake. It's not even dangerous. Watch." She brought it closer to her face, kissing the head. "See?"

By now, Squall was against the dining room table, covering his eyes with one hand. "Don't kiss it!!! You don't know where it's been!!" he yelled, grimacing.

"Squall, he completely sheds his skin once a month. He's probably cleaner than you and me." She continued to stare at Squall, who was climbing onto the tabletop. "You're really terrified of him, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not scared, I just don't--" He broke off when he saw the snake slither down the front of Yuffie's shirt, causing her to giggle. "Hey! That's my territory down there, snake!" he shouted.

She gently pulled the snake out and lowered it into the aquarium. "Squall, how long are you going to act like this?"

"Until that thing is gone," he stated matter-of-factly, climbing off of the table now the snake was safely in its habitat.

Yuffie opened her eyes real big and let them get watery, giving him the dreaded "puppy eye" look. "But, Squall, it's just a little snake. He won't get much bigger than he already is."

"Sorry, Yuf. Fear overrides the puppy eyes. The snake is not staying."

"Please?"

"No."

"PLEASE?"

"NO!"

"Okay. I'll find him a new home." Yuffie sighed as she picked up the box with the two white mice and carried them over to the aquarium.

"What are you doing?" Squall asked calmly, knowing he probably would not like the answer.

She lowered the mice into the tank. "Feeding him." Squall ran out of the room, covering his mouth with one hand and his eyes with the other. Rolling her eyes, she muttered, "He can be such a baby sometimes." She closed the tank lid and walked down the hall, finding Squall sitting at the foot of the bed, his face pale.

"The snake leaves tomorrow, Yuf. I'm sorry, but it has got to go," he told her quietly.

She nodded. "Alright. I should have asked first. If I had know you would be so afraid, I would have never brought it home. I'll give Zephyr a call in the morning. She seems to like all animals." Sitting down behind him, she wrapped her arms around him and leaned against his back.

"Uh-uh! Not until you wash the snake off of you," Squall shouted, jumping up off the bed.

It was at this moment that Yuffie started to laugh uncontrollably. Clutching her stomach, she managed to gasp out, "Fine, I'll go take a shower since you're so afraid you might get snake cooties or something." She climbed of the bed and headed toward the bathroom. 

As soon as the bathroom door shut, Squall quickly shut the bedroom door, rolling up a towel and placing it at the bottom to keep the snake out in case it got loose. Finally satisfied that the room was now snake proof, he stripped down to his boxers and climbed into the bed, reading until Yuffie came out of the shower.

The bathroom door opened, pouring out the steam from Yuffie's shower and revealing her in a camisole and pajama bottoms. She started to walk toward the bed, where Squall was marking his place in his book, when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she saw the towel shoved under the door. "Squall, why is there a towel under the door?"

He raised his eyebrows. "In case it escapes."

Stifling a giggle, she continued to walk to the bed. "Squall, it's a snake. It's not that smart. It's not going to escape," she explained calmly.

"I don't care. I don't want to take any chances."

Yuffie climbed onto the bed and straddled Squall's waist. "Does Squallie need Yuffie to protect him from the big bad snake?" she teased, her hands gliding across his bare chest.

He quirked an eyebrow. "If I were you, I wouldn't make fun of a man in my position."

An impish grin spread across her face. "Which position are you referring to? Having to put up with a snake in the house? Or lying in bed with a beautiful woman sitting on you?"

"Well, when you put it that way, the latter,"he told her simply, pulling her down and crushing her lips to his. He ran his hands up her sides, causing her to squirm and press against him even more. Breaking the kiss for a second, Squall muttered, "Just make sure the snake leaves tomorrow, okay?"

Sitting up slightly, Yuffie nodded. "I'll call Zephyr first thing in the morning." She lay back down across his chest, nuzzling his neck. "But, right now, we have other matters to attend to, wouldn't you agree?" she whispered coyly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, across town, a phone rang, waking a young woman with long black hair. Reaching across the still sleeping body of her silver-haired boyfriend she grabbed the phone, growling, "Whoever it is, you better have a good excuse for waking me up this early."

"Zephyr?" a voice asked timidly, scared into submission by the tone of the young woman's voice.

Wincing when she realized it was Yuffie on the other end of the line, she muttered, "Yuffie, you know I sleep in on my days off."

"Who's on the phone?" Riku mumbled, still half-asleep.

Holding a hand over the receiver, Zephyr said, "Yuffie, and something's going on over there. I swear I can hear a little girl screaming in the background." 

"Zephyr, I need a favor. Please?" Yuffie begged, desperation creeping into her voice.

"What is going on over there, Yuf? And why is there a child screaming?" the gray-eyed young woman asked concernedly.

There was a nervous laugh from Yuffie. "Um...that's not a kid screaming. That's Squall."

Breaking into laughter, Zephyr nearly dropped the phone. Riku looked at her strangely. "What's so funny?"

She held the phone out to him. "Here, listen for yourself. You hear that shrill screaming in the background?" He nodded. "That's Squall." Riku gave her an incredulous look, disbelief coming into his eyes, but the sound of Yuffie yelling at Squall to calm down made him a believer. He wordlessly handed the phone back to Zephyr, holding the laughter down.

"Zephyr? Are you still there?" Yuffie's voice was becoming more desperate.

"Yeah, I'm here. What's the favor you need?" she asked, fearing the worst.

There was a pause, followed by some more screaming. And Zephyr could have sworn she heard Yuffie yell, "Squall, put that knife down!!"

"Yuffie, is everything alright over there?" she questioned worriedly, beginning to wonder if she should call the police and send them over. 

"No, everything's fine....hold on a minute." Zephyr heard the sound of the phone being laid down, then Yuffie shouting, "there, I have him. You can calm down now." The phone was picked up again. "Now, about that favor. Um...you do like snakes, right?"

"Yeah...why?"

Yuffie let out a small laugh. "Do you think you can take in a Rosy Boa?"

Realization hit Zephyr. "Let me guess. You brought one home last night, and Squall went crazy. Am I right?"

"Exactly. I would have waited to call you until later, but I accidentally let the snake loose this morning, and, well you heard what was going on," Yuffie explained. 

"Okay. I'll take it in." 

"Thank you so much, Zephyr. I'll be over in an hour. If I don't get the poor thing out of the apartment, Squall's going to kill it." Zephyr heard Yuffie hang the phone up, then hung up her own phone. Laying back down, she thought for a moment. Then started laughing hysterically, thinking about how Squall, an ex-marine, could be so terrified by a snake. And a small one at that.

A mumbled question came from the other side of the bed. "Zephyr, what kind of animal are you adopting now?"

"A snake."

"Why me?" Riku muttered under his breath.

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After safely delivering the snake to Zephyr, Yuffie returned home to the apartment, walking through the front door only seconds before the clouds released a torrent of rain. "That was close," she muttered as she shut the door behind her.

"Did you get rid of the snake?" Squall asked as he walked out of the back of the apartment.

"Yes, Squall. You will never have to set eyes on it again." Throwing her purse on the counter, she lay down on the couch, draping one arm over her eyes. "I hate rainy days," she muttered absently. She grabbed the remote and began to flip through the channels on the TV. Not finding anything decent to watch, she turned it off again. 

Pushing her up slightly, Squall slid behind her and leaned her back onto him. "Rainy days aren't all that bad, Yuf," he whispered as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Yeah. I guess you're right," she agreed. Her legs, being clad in a pair of short shorts, soon became chilled. "I'll be right back, Squall. Don't move." Climbing off of him, she went to the spare bedroom to find a blanket. Once back in the living room, she realized that Squall was no longer on the couch, but searching through the video cabinet for a movie. "I told you not to move," she said mock angrily.

"Don't worry. I'll be right back over there as soon as I find a movie for us to watch." He continued to look through the cabinet before pulling a DVD out. "Hey, Yuf, do you like _Indiana Jones_?"

She furrowed her brows. "I don't think I've ever seen it," she admitted.

Squall's jaw dropped. "You've never seen _Indiana Jones?_ You've got to be kidding me."

Shaking her head slowly, she said, "No, I've never seen it."

"Well, today's your lucky day then. Since it's raining and I don't have to be anywhere, and you don't have to be anywhere, we're going to watch it. In fact, we can even watch all three of them if you like it." After placing the first movie into the DVD player, he sat back down on the couch, leaning his back against the arm. Yuffie soon crawled back onto his lap, covering their legs with the blanket.

After spending the whole day curled up on the couch, watching movies and eating the popcorn she had made during the break between the first and second movies, Yuffie heard a scratching at the door. "Do hear that, Squall?"

"Hear what?" 

She climbed out of his lap and headed for the door. "There's something scratching at the door." As soon as she opened the door, something big, wet, and hairy ran past her and into the apartment, knocking her down in the process. 

"Yuffie, are you okay?" Squall asked concernedly as he tried to pull the hairy "something" back out the door.

Standing up slowly, she squinted at the beast that had come barging into their apartment. "Yeah...that thing just scared me for a moment. It is a dog, right?"

Still trying to pull it back out, Squall grunted, "Yes, Yuffie."

"Are you sure? 'Cause I think it might be a small wholly mammoth." She reached out a hand to let the dog smell her before she started to pet it.

Seeing where this might lead, Squall doubled his efforts to get the dog out of the apartment. "Don't even think about it, Yuffie."

"But, we can't throw him back out into the rain. He'll get sick." By now the dog was licking one of Yuffie's hands while the other was scratching behind his ears.

"Yuffie, he weighs more than you do," Squall told her calmly.

Kneeling in front of it, Yuffie began to use both hands to scratch both of the dog's ears at once, catapulting him into doggie heaven. "But..look at his eyes. He needs me. He loves me."

"So do I, but I don't drool that much." Looking up at Squall, Yuffie opened her eyes wide and let her bottom lip start quivering slightly. Squall placed a hand over his eyes. "Fine. But only for one night, Yuffie. If the apartment manager finds out about him, there'll be hell to pay."

Jumping up, Yuffie threw her arms around Squall's neck, kissing him lightly. "Thank you so much, Squall. I knew you wouldn't be able to throw him out."

"He's sleeping in the spare room, by the way."

Sighing, Yuffie nodded, pulling the dog with her down the hall. "Come on, boy. Let's go make our bed," she cooed. 

Squall stood there a moment, before Yuffie's words hit him. "Wait a minute, Yuf. Did you say 'our' bed?"

She smiled. "Yes. I'll be sleeping in the spare room with him so he won't get lonely."

Following her down the hall, Squall asked, "But what about me? I'll get lonely, too, you know."

"Well, you can always join us in the spare room."

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The next morning found Squall lying on the spare room bed, Yuffie wrapped in his arms, and a large hairy dog stretched out on the foot of the bed. The dog, not liking the fact that he was the only one awake, crawled across the bed until his head was hanging over Squall's face, drool beginning to drip. Feeling something warm and wet on his cheek, Squall's eyes jerked open to find the monstrous dog in his face. He wiped the drool away in disgust and tried to push the beast away, only to have the dog come right back. Realizing he was fighting a losing battle, Squall decided the best thing to do would be give in and get up.

Yuffie whimpered in her sleep as she felt Squall's warm body leave her. She rolled over to face him, only to have a large wet tongue lick her whole face. Quickly opening her eyes, she found herself face to face with a hairy monster. "Squall?" she asked timidly as she tried to look over the dog's head.

Pulling, Squall was able to force the dog off the bed. "What?" he questioned once he was able to see her without a dog blocking the view.

"What are you going to do with him?"

"I'm taking him to the pound, Yuf. We can't keep him here, and there's a chance his owners will be looking for him," he told her, expecting her to protest.

She nodded. "You're right. Just....I hope he finds a home before his time is up at the pound."

Squall leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I'm sure he will." Leaving Yuffie alone in the room with the dog, Squall went to the master bedroom to get ready for his trip to the pound. He joined them a few minutes later, this time carrying a rope he had found in the closet. Tying it around the dog's neck, he managed to pull it out the door and into the car.

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Yuffie was sitting at the table, eating breakfast when Squall came back from the pound about an hour later. Looking up at him, she noticed he had an amused expression on his face. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"Nothing." As he said this, a soft "mew" came from the inside pocket of his leather jacket. 

Getting up from the table, Yuffie started walking towards him, giving him a strange look. "Squall, did your jacket just mew?" By now, she was close enough to see something squirming underneath his jacket.

"No...this did." He pulled out a tiny black and white tuxedo kitten from the pocket and handed it to Yuffie. "I thought you might like her."

"She's so tiny." Yuffie lay the kitten against her shoulder, stroking her softly. "But why did you get her?"

Rubbing a hand over his face, he sighed. "Because, today was her last day. They were going to put her to sleep if she didn't find a home today. They said no one wanted her because she was deformed."

A concerned look crossed Yuffie's face. "Deformed? How?" She held the kitten out, examining it.

Squall pointed out the two front paws, which appeared abnormally large. "She has six toes on her front feet."

"But that just makes her more special." She pulled the kitten back to her shoulder, where it promptly fell asleep. Yuffie stood on tiptoe, using her free hand to pull Squall's head down. "You know, Squall, you're just a big teddy bear in black leather armor," she told him before their lips met.

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Author's Note: I know....it's been taking me longer for each chapter that I write. But, I hope to have the next chapter out by Sunday night. Mainly because it was originally gonna be part of this one, but then it would have been around 8,000 words and would have taken me a lot longer to write. Anyways, review. 

And, VL, I have the chapter out, like I promised. But, I'm so tired right now that I think I can fall asleep right now. *head hits desk* KLONK *snore* ZZZZ


	4. Chapter Four: The Baby

Author's Note: Yes...I know I said I hoped I would have this chapter out by Sunday, but a lot of things have been going on. And, since this is the second half of the semester, I have a lot of stuff going on in my classes. So, I'm going to say this: I'll update whenever possible. It may be more than once a week, it may be only once every other week, or it could even possibly go to once a month. (Heaven forbid) This is the longest I've ever gone without updating a story. On a side note, I think I have wrung my muse dry. I started this chapter on March 24...I wonder when I'll get it finished. My old muse went AWOL and I have a new muse that I'm breaking in now. (Go ahead and laugh, VL...since we both know who I'm talking about ^_~)

College life sucks. What with all the professors thinking that I have the time and energy to read two 300 page novels and write a paper in one week. Yeah...I'm tired of college right now.

Oh yeah, before I forget. The kitten that Squall gave Yuffie in the last chapter is based upon a cat that I had when I was younger. Anything the kitty does in any future chapters will be based upon what my cat did, even if it sounds really strange. 

Note to kairi_sora16: The manager at Squall and Yuffie's apartment only allows cats and dogs that weigh less than 30 pounds. The dog that showed up was about a hundred pound dog, so it wasn't allowed. But, I could see Squall breaking the rules for Yuffie. ^_^ And, yeah...I love animals...I have 4 dogs and 4 cats.

[Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, I would have kept Squall. And you guys know it. So, therefore, I do not own Kingdom Hearts. And, if Zephyr is in the chapter, which I'm not sure if she is yet or not, I don't own her either. She is a creation of Vulpes Lapis. I only exploit her. (Sorry VL....just had to say it. Don't shoot me, you know I was joking) But, I do own the cute little kitty in the story.]

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_Chapter Four: The Baby_

Walking down the cat aisle at the pet store, Yuffie was throwing everything kitten-related into the shopping cart Squall was pushing. "Yuf, I hate to tell you this, but she's probably too young to play with all of this stuff," Squall told her as she came back with another armful of cat toys.

"Well, she'll grow into 'em," she said as she dumped the pile of toys into the basket and went back to get some more.

Squall furrowed his brows and pinched the bridge of his nose. "All I have to say is that I'm glad you get a discount for working here. This is going to cost a small fortune as it is."

As they continued down the aisle, Yuffie noticed the engraving machine that engraved your pet's name onto a tag. She covered her mouth and gasped. "Squall, we haven't named her yet!"

"So? Lots of people take awhile to name their pets." Yuffie turned to glare at him, placing her hands on her hips. "Okay, okay. You win," he conceded. "What do _you_ want to name her?"

"You're not going to help me pick one?" she pouted.

Squall sighed. "She is your cat, after all. I got her for you, ya know."

"But, Squallie--"

Grimacing at his new name, Squall interrupted her and begged, "Yuffie, please don't call me 'Squallie.' I can feel my IQ dropping as we speak."

Yuffie smiled impishly at her new found way of torturing Squall. "Hmm, if you don't help me pick a name out for the kitty, then that's your new name."

Squall jerked his head up and his eyes went wide. "You wouldn't dare....would you?" The look on her face answered his question. "You would." Thinking quickly, he picked a name out of nowhere. "How about Baby?"

"Nah...too cliche."

"Sugar?" 

"Too sweet."

"Spice?"

"Too...spicy, for lack of a better word."

"Domino? Since she's black and white."

"Too...I don't know, too something."

"You could help, you know. Instead of just saying no to everything I pick," he finally told her.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "I'm trying to think of something good before I suggest it." She tapped her chin while she thought. "She does have a dot on her chin. How about Dottie?"

Giving her an incredulous look, Squall stopped in the middle of the aisle, blocking it with the shopping cart. "You can't give a cat a person's name."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. You just can't."

Rolling her eyes again, Yuffie said, "Unless you can come up with a plausible reason, we're naming her Dottie."

"Well...uh....um....what happens if you happen to meet someone named Dottie?" he finally managed to come up with.

"I'll tell them that it's a wonderful coincidence because I have a cat named Dottie." Yuffie pulled the shopping cart away from Squall and started heading for the cashier. "Are you going to try again?" she asked as he trudged along behind her.

He shook his head. "Nope. You're bound and determined to name the cat Dottie. And I know how stubborn you can be."

Turning around, she gave him a big smile. "Good. I knew you'd see it my way." Once they reached the cashier, Yuffie began placing the cartload of kitten stuff on the counter to checkout. "Michelle, this is Squall," Yuffie told her co-worker who checked them out.

Michelle glanced at all the stuff they were buying. "Yuffie, didn't you just take home a snake the other day?"

Yuffie grinned and held back the laughter. "Yeah...that lasted for about twelve hours. Squall here is terrified of snakes."

"I'm not scared of snakes. I just don't like them," he growled, trying to save face.

As she scanned the items, Michelle watched the two lovers bickering back and forth. She chuckled silently when Yuffie whispered something in Squall's ear before giving him a quick kiss. "Yuffie, it's a good thing you get an employee discount."

Yuffie turned back around to Michelle. "Why?"

"Well, before your discount, it comes to $238.55. After the twenty percent discount," Michelle pushed a button on the computer, "$190.84."

Yuffie's eyes widened in shock for a moment, but she pulled out her wallet and quickly wrote out a check. "Good thing I'm not paying the rent," she mumbled.

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Stumbling into the apartment with their arms full of the many things Yuffie decided that Dottie just had to have, Squall tripped over the tiny kitten as she made a mad dash for her human companions. As the kitten let out a shrill cry, Yuffie dropped all the stuff in her arms and scooped Dottie up, ignoring Squall as he fell flat on his face on the floor. "Oh, you poor little baby! Did Squall try and step on you?" Yuffie coed as she examined the kitten for broken bones.

"I could use a little help down here," Squall groaned as he rolled over and sat up.

"Hold on," she said as she stepped across him and carried Dottie to the couch, setting her down gently. Going back to where Squall was still sitting on the floor, she reached out a hand and helped to haul him to his feet. "You need to watch where you're going, Squall. You could have hurt her."

"Yuffie, I didn't even step on her," he protested.

She glared at him. "She cried! You terrified her." Stooping, she picked up the dropped bags and carried them to the couch where Dottie had fallen asleep, curled up into a tiny ball of black and white fur. "Aww! That's so kawaii!" Yuffie exclaimed as she sat down on the couch, careful not to wake Dottie.

Squall gave her a confused look as he sat on the other side of her. "Kawaii? What's kawaii?"

"It means cute, Squall." Standing up, she pulled Squall with her. "Come on. Let's go set up the stuff while the baby's sleeping."

"I thought you didn't like the name Baby?" he asked as he reluctantly followed her down the hall to the spare room which she planned to make into a playroom for the kitten.

"I don't."

"Then why did you call her Baby?"

Opening the spare room door, Yuffie turned to him. "I didn't. I said 'the baby,' not Baby."

Squall winced and rubbed his face with his hands. "This is worse than I thought," he murmured under his breath.

"Did you say something, Squall?" Yuffie asked from inside the room.

He quickly shook his head. "Nope. I didn't say a thing," he lied as he walked into the soon to be "kitty heaven." Thinking for a moment, Squall decided to ask her something. "Yuf, you didn't have pets growing up, did you?"

She laughed. "Is it that obvious?" His look told her yes. "Squall, do you really think my parents would allow 'filthy animals' in the house? I know you've never met them, but you know what they're like." Her eyes darkened as she thought about them. "I remember this one time I brought a tiny kitten home. My parents freaked out, screaming about rabies and other diseases. My father took it away. I still don't know what he did with it. But, knowing how they felt about animals, he probably drowned it." Moisture filled her eyes at the memory.

She suddenly felt Squall's arms go around her as he approached her from behind. Turning around she buried her face in his shirt, just holding on to something as she pushed the memory back into the deep recesses of her mind. "It's okay, Yuf," he murmured in her hair. "Dottie's here to stay. She's yours for now and always."

Yuffie nodded and smiled when she felt Squall kiss the top of her head. Pulling away, she wiped away the few stray tears that had fallen. "Well, let's get this show on the road," she said, referring to the making of "kitty heaven."

A few hours and a few curses later, everything was assembled and ready for Dottie in the spare room. In one corner stood a scratching post tower with platforms that was as tall as Squall. Scattered over the floor were the many toys Yuffie had bought. "There. I think she'll like it," Yuffie finally said as she placed a tunnel in the middle of the floor.

"Yuffie, she's too small for most of this. Besides, she'll go crazy with this many toys. It'll be a sensory overload for her," Squall told her matter-of-factly, knowing he was not going to win.

Ignoring his remarks, Yuffie went to the living room to find Dottie, who had moved from the couch to the recliner where she had fallen asleep again. Yuffie picked her up gently and carried her into the spare room. "There you go, Dottie. Go play," she urged as she placed her on the floor in front of some toys.

Dottie sat there for a moment, before yawning and deciding that Squall's lap looked like a comfortable bed. She hobbled over to the man, who was still sitting on the floor, and crawled across his leg. Curling up contentedly, she began to purr softly. Squall looked up at Yuffie with an 'I told you so' look. "See? She's too young for all the toys."

"She's just sleepy, that's all. As soon as she wakes up, she's gonna have a ball," Yuffie said assuredly, hoping she was right. Squall started to move the kitten so he could get up. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

"Getting up," he answered, confused.

Yuffie shook her head. "You can't do that. It'll wake her up."

Squall gave her an incredulous look. "Do you expect me to sit here until she wakes up?" Yuffie nodded. "Yuf, that could be hours. Look, I'll get up carefully and put her on the bed, okay?"

"Alright, but you better not wake her up," she muttered as she walked out of the room.

As soon as Yuffie left the room, Squall let out a breath. "Sheesh, you'd think this was a real baby I was holding," he muttered as he carefully placed the still sleeping kitten on the bed.

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Stepping out of the shower that night, a boxer-clad Squall found Yuffie already in bed with Dottie sitting on her shoulder as she read in her book. "Yuffie, she can't sleep in here," he told her, determined not to lose his resolve.

"But she'll get lonely." Yuffie turned her head and nuzzled the kitten's fur. "She's just a baby, Squall. She can't sleep by herself."

Walking over to where Yuffie lay, he carefully picked Dottie up. "We fixed her a bed, remember? The bed you insisted on buying for her." He averted his eyes from Yuffie's, which were starting to get wide and watery, knowing that as long as he didn't see the 'puppy eyes,' he'd be fine. 

"Okay, if you insist," she conceded, realizing that Squall did have a point. 

Squall carried the kitten out of the room and into the spare room where a small cat bed was set up. Placing her on the soft pillow, he turned around to leave, only to hear a soft mew coming from behind him. He turned around to find Dottie crawling out of the bed and following him. "Nope, sorry girl." He picked her up again and put her back in the bed, leaving quickly this time.

Back in their bedroom, Yuffie had put her book aside and lay on her side, facing the door. "Did she go to sleep?" she asked as soon as he stepped through the doorway.

"Yes," he lied, shutting the door and praying Dottie wasn't following him. He walked across the room and slid into bed behind Yuffie, pulling her against him. Lowering his mouth to her neck, he began to kiss and suck gently, causing her to gasp while his hand found its way beneath her camisole and softly tickled her stomach.

That was when the crying and scratching at the door started. Yuffie pulled away from Squall and gave him a reproachful glance. "I thought you said she went to sleep?" she muttered as she got out of bed and went to open the door. She picked Dottie up and carried her over to the bed.

"Yuffie, you can't always let her sleep in here with us. You'll spoil her," Squall groaned as he realized that the kitten would not be returning to her own bed.

Ignoring him, Yuffie sat on the bed, holding the kitten in front of Squall's face. "How can you say no to a face like that?"

"Easy, like this...NO." Yuffie pulled the kitten back to her and pouted her lips ever so slightly and gave him the 'puppy eyes.' Sighing, Squall relented. "Fine. But only for tonight. Starting tomorrow, she does not sleep in here, okay?"

"Of course. Tomorrow, she'll sleep by herself," Yuffie consented as she pulled the covers back and slid her back up against Squall's chest with Dottie placed in front of her. 

Squall brought his mouth back down to Yuffie's neck, pushing the shoulder strap of her camisole away with one hand and moving his mouth down to her shoulder while his other hand made its way up and across her stomach under her shirt. "SQUALL! Not with the baby in the room!" she hissed.

Pulling away, Squall groaned. "Yuf, she's a cat. She'll figure it out eventually."

"Can you at least wait until she goes to sleep?" she asked, stroking the kitten's back as she tried to find a comfortable place to curl up.

"Yuffie, do you really think she could sleep through that?" Squall whispered in her ear.

Reaching over and turning out the lamp, Yuffie replied, "You're right, Squall." She cuddled up against Squall again and yawned. "We'll just have to continue this later."

Squall winced at her words before giving up and closing his eyes. He opened them a few moments later when he felt something warm and fuzzy climbing up his body and settling down on his neck. Sighing, he was about to move Dottie when he heard her start purring. "Okay, kitten, you can sleep there tonight," he muttered as he closed his eyes once again.

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Yuffie's eyes fluttered open as the sunlight filtered through the thin window curtains in their bedroom. Yawning and stretching her arms over her head, she rolled over and laughed when she saw Squall. He was lying on his back with Dottie stretched out over his neck, her fur waving with each breath he took. She reached over and carefully picked the kitten up, who let out a soft cry. "Come on, Dottie. Let's let Squall sleep," she whispered as she slid out of bed, careful not to awaken her lover.

Placing the kitten on her shoulder, Yuffie walked out of the room and out the front door to bring the paper in. She carried it to the counter where she began to scan through it, looking for the comics. "You know, Dottie, you're lucky Squall saw you at the pound yesterday. I never knew how softhearted he really is until he brought you home." She turned her head and was nuzzling the kitten's fluffy fur with her nose when she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist and warm lips caress her neck.

Yuffie gasped in surprise. "I didn't know you were up," she murmured as he continued to assault her neck and shoulder. "You didn't hear what I just said, did you?" 

"Every word." He gently picked the kitten up from her shoulder and placed her on the counter top, turning Yuffie around as he did so. "Every single word," he softly said as he crushed his lips to hers and pulled her even closer, if that was possible. He started to pull her back down the hall as he walked backwards, keeping her against him.

Breaking away, Yuffie gasped out, "What about Dottie? Do you think she'll be okay on the counter?" Squall ignored her protests and lowered his mouth to her throat, leaving a wet trail down to her now exposed shoulder. "Forget the cat," she muttered as she began pushing him down the hall and towards the bedroom.

In the bedroom, she continued to back Squall up until they reached the bed, at which point she pushed him down onto the rumpled blankets. He pulled her down with him, his lips moving to hers where the kiss became frantic. 

Then the doorbell rang. Yuffie groaned and began to disentangle herself from Squall. "Just ignore it," he whispered as he pulled her back down. She nodded and dipped her head back down to meet his lips with her own. Squall's hands worked their way up her sides underneath the camisole she still wore. 

The doorbell rang again, causing Squall to mutter a few curses and drop his hands from her sides. Yuffie let out a soft whimper as she sat up and pulled her shirt back down. "Squall, we have to answer it." After climbing off of him and out of the bed, she grabbed the pants he had thrown over the chair the night before and tossed them to him. "Here, put these on and answer the door," she told him as she rifled through the closet looking for some clothes for herself.

Sighing disgustedly, Squall slipped the pants on and left Yuffie alone in the room to dress. Still muttering curses, he walked down the hall to the front door and threw it open as a particularly nasty curse left his mouth.

Cloud looked at him with wide eyes. "HOLY COW! When they say 'swear like a sailor,' they MEAN IT!" Aerith, on the other hand, was covering her mouth and gasping at Squall's choice of words.

"I was in the marines, dumbass, not the navy," Squall grumbled with a very annoyed look in his eye.

Taking note of this look and realizing that there was only one thing that could put that look in a man's eyes, Cloud began to back away. "Aerith, honey, I don't think they were expecting us. Maybe we should come back some other time."

"Don't be silly!"Aerith said, grabbing her new husband's arm and pulling him into the apartment past the still annoyed-looking Squall, who had reluctantly stepped aside to allow them entrance.

"Squall, who's at the door?" Yuffie called as she came out of the bedroom still buttoning her blouse. Before he could answer, she saw Aerith. "Aerith! You're finally back! I mean, it's only been six weeks. How was Annapolis?" she gushed as she ran to the living room and hugged her newly-wed friend tightly. While her mouth was close to her ear, Yuffie whispered, "Aerith, I'm going to get you back for this interruption if it's the last thing I do." 

Letting Aerith go and not waiting for an answer to her question, Yuffie ran over and hugged Cloud, who was still standing by the door in fear that Squall would throw them out. "Geez, Yuffie. I didn't know you cared," he joked as she nearly choked off his air supply. 

Yuffie grinned sheepishly as she released him and ushered both Aerith and Cloud over to the couch. "Don't just stand there. Come in and sit down." 

Squall closed the door and followed them to the living room. "Yes, come in. It's not like we were busy or anything," he sarcastically mumbled low enough that only Yuffie heard him, causing her to blush ever so slightly and narrow her eyes at him.

"Anyways, Aerith, how was Annapolis?" Yuffie asked as she successfully fought the blush down.

Aerith sighed. "It was so beautiful, Yuf. Especially the harbor at sunrise with the sun's rays meeting the water..." She trailed off and smiled, remembering the thrill of seeing it with her husband. "And, we have some great news to tell you," she said as she came out of her reverie.

"So do we." Yuffie stood up and looked around before asking, "Squall, where's the baby?"

The room went silent and a faint blush spread across Aerith's cheeks. "Yuffie, what baby? You and Squall don't have a baby...do you?" she asked confusedly as Yuffie left the room in search of 'the baby.'

Squall turned a bright red. "She means the cat," he said, embarrassed.

Cloud chuckled softly and reached out to take one of Aerith's hands, which were fidgeting in her lap. A few minutes later, Yuffie came back in the living room with Dottie sitting on her shoulders. "Aww! She's so cute!" the green-eyed woman exclaimed as the kitten was placed her in her lap.

"So, Aerith, what's your news?" Yuffie inquired as she watched the Dottie chase her tail on her friend's lap.

Taking a deep breath and looking at Cloud, she announced, "We're pregnant!"

Yuffie jumped up from the couch in surprise. "Really?! That's so great, Aerith!" She leaned over and hugged both Aerith and Cloud again. "Isn't that great, Squall?"

Squall snorted. "You know, unless Cloud is pregnant too, you shouldn't say 'we're pregnant.' But, yeah, it's great news. Cloud as a father. This I have got to see."

Swatting him playfully, Yuffie told him, "Be nice!" Turning back to Aerith, Yuffie let out a squeal. "We've got to go shopping for the baby!" She pulled her up, grabbed her purse, and dragged her out the door, leaving the two men alone in the apartment.

"Yuffie does realize that the baby's not going to be here for another seven months, right?" Cloud asked Squall worriedly.

He rolled his eyes. "She doesn't care. But, man, you're going to have a lot of toys by the time the baby arrives. You should have seen her at the pet store yesterday when we went shopping for the cat."

"Great," the blonde mumbled.

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After spending the whole day shopping with her now pregnant friend, Yuffie returned to the apartment to find Squall spread out on the couch, watching the World Poker Tournament on ESPN while Dottie lay curled up on his chest, her large paws covering her face. Looking at her and then his watch, he joked, "I was beginning to think you forgot where we lived."

Yuffie smiled. "Nope. Aerith and I just went to a lot of stores today." She picked Dottie up off of Squall's chest and put her on her shoulder after rubbing noses with her.

"You know, I think you give that kitten more attention than you do me," Squall said as he watched the her affection for the kitten play across her features.

Smiling slyly, Yuffie asked, "Jealous?"

"Hell, yeah!" he exclaimed sitting up.

She walked down the hall, giving him a lingering look. "Well, let's see if we can...remedy matters, then, shall we?" Squall observed her going into the spare room with the kitten, but come out without her. "Are you coming, Squall?" she asked seductively as she continued down the hall and to their bedroom.

Jumping off the couch, he flipped the TV off and followed her to the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

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Author's Note: Well, that chapter only took me four and a half days to write. I think I'm slipping. I used to be able to spit a chapter out in a couple of hours. Oh well. I hope this chapter lived up to everyone's expectations. I'm not even going to make a guess as to how soon I can get another chapter out. Just expect it when you see it. Sorry, but school has to come first. =( Anyways, Read and Review, as usual.

  



	5. Chapter Five: Gaps

Author's Note: Let's see, I'm starting this chapter on March 29, with no clear idea of when it'll be finished and posted. Kudos to Vulpes Lapis for all her help. ^_^

Note to Taryn: I have something like what you said planned for the chapter after this. I've been planning that chapter since I was still in the middle of writing "These Are the Days." In fact, it was the first chapter for this story that I thought about. I've just been working up to it. I think you'll enjoy it. ^_^

Note to Kiz2Point0: Yeah, this story has no clear goal. It functions more as a series of one-shots with an overreaching story arc. I do have chapters planned out through chapter 8, though.

[Disclaimer: Ya know, I don't own Kingdom Hearts or most of the character portrayed in this story. And the only character that I want to own is Squall, so what's the point in this disclaimer? If Zephyr is in this chapter, she belongs to Vulpes Lapis. I own Dottie and any other random people or animals you don't recognize from games.]

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_Chapter Five: Gaps_

"That's disgusting!" an elderly blue-haired woman croaked to the middle-aged balding man next to her in the waiting room at the local veterinarian's office. Across the room, sat a long-haired man wearing a short sleeved black leather jacket slowly running his hand up the leg of the young ebony-haired woman leaning against him. Her bare leg, as she was wearing a black corduroy skirt that barely came to her mid-thigh.

The middle-aged man sneered as he viewed their blatant display. "I agree. She can't be more than seventeen and he must be near thirty," he agreed as he watched the leather-clad man's hand make its way beneath the hem of the girl's skirt. 

Oblivious to the scrutiny they were receiving, Squall's hand continued inching its way up Yuffie's leg and under her skirt. She turned her head to him and smiled, all innocence and sweetness. That was when she grabbed his hand and crushed all of his fingers together. Pulling his hand out of hers, he cradled it with his other. "I was gonna use that later," he said quietly as he rubbed his fingers.

Before Yuffie could reply, the veterinary assistant opened the door separating the exam rooms from the waiting room. "Leonheart?" she called, looking around at the many faces in the room. "Dottie Leonheart?"

"You put it under my name?" Squall whispered to Yuffie as he stood up from his chair and picked up the cat carrier at his feet.

She shrugged. "It's easier to pronounce than Kisaragi."

They silently followed the assistant down the long hall, passing doors where scared whimpers and frightened meows could be heard. Opening a door marked "Exam Room 3," the assistant ushered them in, telling them that Dr. Nazzal would be with them shortly.

Looking around the room, Yuffie noticed the many posters covering the white walls as she tried to ignore the faint crying coming from Dottie inside the cat carrier Squall had placed on the exam table. One poster in particular caught her eye. She walked closer to it in order to get a better look at it. It showed the life-cycle of different types of parasites and their affects on various pets. Grimacing at the gruesome pictures, she turned back to the exam table and opened the door of the pet carrier, allowing Dottie to creep out. "Come here, Dottie," Yuffie urged as she picked the kitten up and placed her on her shoulder.

"Yuf, I really think you should leave her in the carrier until the vet gets in here. What if she gets loose?" Squall said from the only chair in the room, which was placed in the corner.

She rolled her eyes. "Do you really think I would let that happen?" she questioned sarcastically.

The door creaked open as a woman walked through, reading a chart on the clipboard. She looked up at Yuffie. "I'm Dr. Nazzal, and you must be Miss Leonheart," she said as she stuck out her hand.

"No, I'm Yuffie Kisaragi," Yuffie laughed as she placed Dottie on the exam table and took the veterinarian's hand. "We put it under his name because it's easier to pronounce," she continued, pointing to the now standing Squall.

Dr. Nazzal furrowed her brows in confusion. "So, you're not his sis--" She broke off when Squall walked up behind Yuffie, placing his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her head as she leaned back into him. The vet shook her head and rubbed her eyes.

"I'm not his what?" Yuffie asked.

"Never mind," Dr. Nazzal muttered as she looked back down at the chart in her hand. "So, it says you're here for...Dottie's shots, correct?" 

Yuffie broke away from Squall's embrace, nodding. "Yes." She picked the Dottie up before she tried to jump off the edge of the table. "Oh no you don't, little girl," Yuffie whispered in the kitten's fur as she held her up to her face and kissed her nose.

"She's never had pets before," Squall tried to explain as Dr. Nazzal watched Yuffie baby and cuddle Dottie like a mother would do a child.

"Most people are like that with their pets. Especially girls her age," the vet said.

Yuffie looked up at Dr. Nazzal suddenly. "What do you mean 'girls my age'?" she questioned suspiciously.

"I mean, girls just getting out of high school," Dr. Nazzal elaborated.

Narrowing her eyes, Yuffie said in a voice dangerously soft, "I attend the university. I'm not 'just getting out of high school.'"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. You just look so young," Dr. Nazzal apologized quickly as she took Dottie from Yuffie's hands and began to examine her. She didn't notice the glare she was receiving from young woman, nor did she notice Squall placing his hands on his beloved's tense shoulders to calm her down.

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"Squall, we're changing vets," Yuffie stated rather calmly as she climbed into his black Chevy Avalanche, slamming the door firmly behind her.

On the driver's side, Squall struggled to get the cat carrier in the spacious backseat. "Don't be ridiculous, Yuf," he told her as the engine roared to life. "She's supposed to be one of the better vets in town."

Yuffie glared at him. "Didn't you hear what she said? She all but right out said that I'm too young for you!" Squall leaned over and buckled her seatbelt as she had forgotten it in her anger. "Thank you," she muttered as she turned to look out the window.

He reached out with one hand and turned her face back to him. "Yuffie, if I don't care about your age and you don't care about my age, then who cares about what anyone else thinks?" His hand moved to the back of her neck, gently pulling her face closer until their lips met.

She smiled against his mouth before he released her neck. "So, you don't think I'm an innocent little girl, then?"

Quirking an eyebrow, he stared at her a moment. "I know for a fact you aren't innocent. And I definitely would not classify you as a 'little girl.'"

"Good," she laughingly replied as he put the truck into gear and began to back it up. "But, we're still changing vets. I'll call Zephyr and see who she uses."

"Whatever," Squall replied as he turned out of the parking lot and onto the busy street. After passing the third pool supply store, an idea popped into his head. "Didn't you buy a new swimsuit last week?" he asked as he spared a glance from the road to look at her.

"Are you suggesting that we go swimming, Squall?" she questioned playfully.

"I'll confess the thought crossed my mind since you're not working today and I don't have anything planned." He turned his truck into the apartment parking lot. "Besides, today's Monday. The pool shouldn't be that busy. And we should take advantage of the situation since it you know how busy it gets on the weekends."

After he parked the truck, Yuffie climbed out, saying, "Admit it, Squall, you just want a chance to see me in my swimsuit."

He opened the third door on the truck and pulled the cat carrier out, grinning. "That's just one of the perks of going to the pool, Yuf. Seeing a beautiful woman skimpily dressed."

Yuffie choked down a giggle and bit her lip. "Then you're just going to love my swimsuit, Squall. Believe me, you'll love it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You've got to be kidding me, Yuf. That's your swimsuit?" Squall asked in disbelief when she walked out of the bedroom in an indigo one-piece swimsuit with black shorts tied with a white string. She grinned as she turned around, revealing the bare back of the swimsuit.

"What's wrong, Squall? You don't like it?" 

He stood there dumbfounded for a moment in his black swim trunks with red at the bottom of the legs. "I just thought you would wear a two-piece, or something," he muttered.

Rolling her eyes, she picked up the beach towels she had grabbed out of the cabinet. "You've seen me in a lot less than this, ya know." She pushed the two towels into his arm and the bottle of sun block she had just picked up from the counter.

Squall furrowed his brows as he read the bottle. "Yuffie, this bottle says SPF 45. Isn't that a bit much?" he asked as he looked back up at her while she grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the refrigerator.

"Nope. I don't tan...I burn." Placing the water on the counter, she picked up a bottle of Aloe Vera gel and placed it in the back of the refrigerator. Squall gave her a strange look. "It feels better cold if you happen to get sunburnt," she explained as she walked out of the kitchen carrying the water and grabbing a book from the living room before she headed for the front door. "Are you coming, Squall?" 

"Yeah, I'm coming," he mumbled as he followed her out the door, making sure that Dottie did not escape out the door which she had been trying to do in the past couple of days.

Walking down the stairs and weaving between the buildings, they finally reached the apartment's large pool area. Sitting around the pool were a few of the twenty something women who lived in the complex and were working on their tans and a couple of men ogling the women. "Not busy, huh?" Yuffie asked, raising her eyebrows.

"You should have seen it last summer. You couldn't even fit a beach ball in the pool it was so crowded," Squall told her as he managed to open the gate without dropping the towels or sun block. Placing his empty hand on the small of her back, he led Yuffie over to two empty lounge chairs, on which he spread out the two towels.

Yuffie sat down and opened the bottle of sun block, rubbing it on her arms and legs while Squall watched as she smoothed the lotion into her skin. After rubbing some on her face, she handed the bottle to Squall. "Squall, can you put some on my back and shoulders? Please?" she pleaded as she moved over to sit on the edge of his chair.

"Do you really think any guy could say no, Yuf?" He squirted a glob of lotion into his hands. "I mean, this is every guy's dream, rubbing lotion onto a woman's back and shoulders. Most men would give their eyeteeth to do this," he said as he noticed a couple of the men sitting around staring enviously at him while he rubbed the lotion first onto her back and then up and over her shoulders and down the front of her suit. 

"Squall, you might want to watch where your hands go," Yuffie warned as his hands dipped lower into her suit. 

He pulled his hands back up. "Just want to make sure you don't get sunburnt," he murmured as he kissed the back of her head. "I still don't see why you didn't get a two-piece," he grumbled as she stood up from her seat.

"Don't worry, Squall. I'll make it up to you when we get home," she whispered as she leaned down and kissed his lips gently.

"You promise?" he asked, grabbing her hand.

She nodded, then looked at the closed bottle of sun block he had put on the ground beside his chair. "Aren't you going to put on some sun block?"

"Nah, I don't ever burn."

"Okay, but don't come crying to me when you can't put your shirt on because of a burn," she said as she moved to her lounge chair and lay down on her stomach, her head hanging over the side as she opened her book and placed it on the ground where she could read it. "Squall, did you bring your watch?"

Confusion marred his features momentarily. "Yeah, why?"

She turned her head up to look at him. "Because, I have to wait thirty minutes before I jump in or the sun block will wash off." Leaning her head against the side of the lounge chair, she went back to reading the thick novel.

Squall leaned over, trying to see what book she had down there. "What are you reading anyways?" he asked as he continued to try to see the title.

"Hm?" Pulling her eyes away from the book, she looked back up at him. He repeated his question. "Oh, _Pride and Prejudice_ by Jane Austen. It's my favorite book. I've only read it like a hundred times since middle school," she told him.

"You actually like that book?" he questioned in disbelief. "I hated that book, but they made me read it in high school."

"But it's a classic, Squall. What's not to like?" She was sitting up now so she could look at him without straining her neck.

Shaking his head, he sighed. "I don't know. It's just so long and drawn out. I mean, if I had written that book, it would have been less than fifty pages."

"And that's why you don't write." Rolling her eyes, she lay back and started to read again, but then lay the book aside once more. "It's long and drawn out to make it more realistic, Squall. Mr. Darcy can't just go up to Elizabeth and propose because she hates him in the beginning. It takes time to get past her pride and his prejudice."

"I'm not going to win, am I, Yuf?"

"Nope, because for every argument you come up with, I can come up with a better one."

"And that's why I love you," he said as he reached over and picked up her hand that was hanging off the chair and kissed it.

She laughed. "You love me because I can argue with you? That makes a _lot_ of sense, Squall." Opening the book again, she turned to him before she started reading. "I love you, too, by the way."

The next thirty minutes passed with Yuffie trying to read and Squall attempting to make his point about _Pride and Prejudice_, only to have each of his arguments knocked down by a more plausible one from Yuffie. He was beginning to wonder if she should be the pre-law student and not him. "Yuffie?" he said softly.

"Did you come up with yet another argument, Squall?" she asked exasperatedly.

Chuckling, he told her, "No. I was just wondering if you had decided on a major yet. You might look into pre-law. You're pretty good at this."

She marked her place in her book and closed it. "I've been thinking a lot about my major, since January, when I...you know." After all these months, she was still unable to talk about what happened then, about her attempted suicide. "But, anyways," she said, shaking her head, "I want to major in psychology...so I can help other people before they try to do what I tried to do." She grabbed his wrist suddenly, looking at the watch. "Good. It's been thirty minutes, I can go swimming now," she exclaimed as she jumped up off the chair.

Getting up, Squall followed her to the pool's edge where she suddenly grabbed him and pushed him into the cool water. He came up sputtering with the water dripping from his long hair. "Yuffie!" he yelled in mock anger as he pushed his now wet hair out of his face.

"Oh, loosen up, Squall. Don't be so stiff," she said as she jumped in after him.

Squall snorted. "Your loss, Yuf." He gave her a wink.

"Squall Leonheart, are you suggesting something sexual?" she demanded loudly as she stood up in the chest-high water with her hands on her hips. A few bystanders around the pool began to give them worried looks. Smiling, Yuffie leaned forward and whispered, "Save it for when we get back."

After swimming a few laps in the pool, which was quickly becoming crowded, Squall pulled himself out and lay on his stomach on his lounge chair, telling Yuffie that he was going to work on his tan.

"Okay, but don't get sunburnt," she called from the diving board where she stood, waiting for the area beneath to clear so she could dive in.

Squall lay there, slowly dozing off when he felt a soft hand tracing his tattoo on his back. He looked over his shoulder, smiling and expecting to find Yuffie there, but his piercing blue eyes widened in shock when he saw that it was definitely not Yuffie. Leaning over him stood a bleached blonde woman, her dark roots showing in her hair, and barely clad in a lime green bikini. "Um, can I help you?" Squall stammered as he rolled over completely and sat up.

"Oh, did I wake you up?" she asked in a sultry voice as her green eyes widened. "I didn't mean to, but your tattoo is so beautiful that I just had to touch it."

Deciding it might be better to jump in the pool again to avoid this woman's advances, Squall stood up and began to back away from her. "No, that's okay...I needed to wake up anyways." He spared a glance over his shoulder to see Yuffie swimming laps around the pool.

"What's wrong? Are you scared of me? I don't bite...unless you want me to," the blonde murmured as she continued to advance on Squall.

"I don't think my girlfriend would like that." Squall made sure he emphasized the word 'girlfriend,' hoping to dissuade this woman from hitting on him. Glancing over his shoulder again at the pool, he saw Yuffie swimming towards them.

Pulling herself out of the water, Yuffie made sure to splash the blonde as she pushed between them. "Oops! I'm so sorry!" she apologized sarcastically as she walked over to Squall, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning against his side.

"You've got to be kidding me!" she bikini clad blonde exclaimed as she eyed the two of them. "That's your girlfriend?" she demanded of Squall while she pointed an accusatory finger at Yuffie.

"Yeah, this is my girlfriend," he said as he rubbed Yuffie's back with one hand while she glared at the blonde triumphantly.

The bleached blonde began to laugh, covering her mouth with one hand as she did so. "But she's just a baby! You'll have to wait for her to go through puberty before you can screw!"

Before Squall could think about what Yuffie was doing, she had walked over and shoved the woman into the pool, growling, "Screw this!" She then calmly walked toward the pool's gate.

Squall stood there trying not to laugh as the blonde emerged sputtering from the water. "You bitch!" she screeched. Turning to look at his girlfriend, Squall saw Yuffie stop for a moment, clenching her fist, before continuing out of the pool area, ignoring the shrill shrieks coming from the enraged woman. Squall quickly grabbed the two towels, sun block, and Yuffie's book and ran to catch up with her as she was already halfway back to their apartment.

"Hey, are you okay?" he whispered when he finally reached her.

She gave him a wan smile. "I am now." Opening her still clenched fists, she grimaced as she saw the crescent-shaped imprints in her palms left from her fingernails. A few of her fingernails had actually broken the skin and drew blood.

Dropping the stuff in his arms, Squall took one of her hands in his own, looking at the wounds. "Yuffie," he muttered, shaking his head.

"Well, it kept me from killing her," she tried to explain.

"I would much rather you kill her than hurt yourself," he told her laughingly.

"I'll keep that in mind next time some woman hits on you," she said, grinning. She bent over and picked up the towels, sun block, and book that Squall had dropped and handed them all back to him except for one towel, which she wrapped around her shoulders.

When they reached their apartment, Yuffie immediately headed for the bedroom while Squall dropped the stuff in his hands onto the counter. He then went back out the door and down the walkway to the mailboxes, leaving the apartment door open while he was gone. Flipping through the letters, mostly junk, he walked into the living room, this time shutting the door behind him. Confused that Yuffie was still in the back of the apartment, Squall lay the mail on the table before going the their bedroom. Upon opening the door, he found her wearing a pair of his boxers, the drawstring pulled tight, and pulling one of his T-shirts on over her still wet head. "Hey, those are my clothes!" he exclaimed.

She grinned as her head peeked out of the neck of his shirt. "Yes, I know. They're really comfortable, too," she said as she finished pulling the shirt down while Squall changed into some dry shorts. Becoming serious again, Yuffie threw herself down on her stomach onto the bed, sighing loudly. "Squall, in one day, we have come across two people who have issues with our age difference," she muttered into the pillow.

Laying down next to her, Squall pulled her over him so she was lying on top of him, her ear pressed over his heart. "Yuffie, we've been over this before. Who cares what anyone else thinks? Just forget about the rest of the world." He ran his hand soothingly up and down her back.

"I know, and you're right. It's just...that's two people in one day. And we've never come across anybody before who have made a big deal about it." She sighed loudly again. "If anyone else says anything, they're gonna get it a lot worse than being pushed into the pool."

Squall chuckled softly. "That was hilarious, Yuffie. You should have seen her when she came up out of the water. I swear, she had murder in her eyes."

Yuffie lifted her head, her brows furrowed. "Not to change the subject or anything, but, Squall, why do we always whisper in here? I mean, no one else is in here. It's just us."

"Neighbors."

"They don't like pillow talk?" she asked, then realized something. "Wait a minute! They can hear us?!"

"Yeah...thin walls."

"Squall, pillow talk is a lot more tame than what goes on in here on a regular basis." She thought for a moment. "That would explain why I've been getting some dirty looks from Belle Watling."

He started laughing again. "Who cares what she thinks, Yuf? She has three kids, and she doesn't even know who their fathers are. She's probably just jealous."

"It's not funny, Squall! Who knows what she's been telling people!" Yuffie started to sit up, but Squall's arms wrapped around her lower back kept her from doing so. He was still laughing as he pulled her up to his face for a kiss. "Oh, screw 'em," Yuffie muttered against his mouth.

"Don't you think we should keep that between ourselves, Yuf?" She lay back down on his chest, this time her head closer to his head and her wet hair tickling his nose. "You smell like chlorine, ya know?"

"So do you," she told him, not lifting her head.

"Shower?" he questioned.

He felt her nod against his chest. "Sounds like a good idea to me," she murmured as she crawled off of him and pulled him up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Squall, I told you that you would get sunburnt," Yuffie chastised as she sat behind him on the bed, rubbing the cold Aloe Vera gel onto his shoulders and the back of his neck.

He rolled his eyes. "Well, it didn't hurt until you turned up the hot water in the shower."

"How was I supposed to know? If you had listened to me in the first place, this wouldn't have happened, now would it?" Finishing, she closed the bottle of Aloe Vera and stood up, handing Squall a shirt as she did so.

"Go ahead and say it, Yuf. I know you want to," he muttered as he pulled the shirt over his head, wincing when it touched the burned area.

She smiled innocently. "I told you so, Squall." Leaning down to kiss him, she put a hand on his shoulder not thinking about the burn until he grimaced in pain. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot," she apologized as she pulled her hand back.

"Just don't forget again, okay?" 

Nodding, she looked around the room as if looking for something. "Squall, have you seen Dottie? I haven't seen or heard her since we got back." 

"Come to think of it, neither have I." He stood up, following Yuffie as she left the bedroom to search for the kitty, calling her name out. 

After searching the whole apartment, Yuffie began to get frantic. "Where is she? She couldn't have gotten out because we don't ever leave the door open long enough for that."

Squall eyes widened and he covered his mouth as he remembered that he had left the door open while he got the mail in. "Um...Yuffie?"

"Squall, you didn't?" she questioned in disbelief, hoping he wasn't implying what she thought he was implying. But the look on his face answered her question. 

"I forgot," he told her quietly.

"You forgot?! You FORGOT?! How could you forget something like that?!" She began running her hands through her short hair as she headed for the door. "Come on, Squall. You go that way and I'll go this way," she said as she dragged him out of the apartment and pushed him in the direction she had told him to go.

"It was an accident, Yuf," he called over his shoulder.

"Less talking and more looking, Squall," she yelled as she headed for their neighbor's apartment, knowing that since she had three kids, the chances of one of them finding Dottie and taking her home were pretty good. As she lifted her hand to knock, she remembered the conversation between her and Squall that afternoon about the thin walls. A blush came across her face as she knocked on the door.

Belle Watling, a woman in her early thirties with dyed red hair, opened the door and put on a fake smile when she saw who it was. "Yuffie, how nice to see you. Come in, come in." 

"Hi Belle," Yuffie managed to stammer out as she walked into the living room of the apartment which was strewn with hundreds of toys. 

"Yuffie, what brings you over to my lonely apartment? You and that hunk of meat have a fight?" She ushered Yuffie onto the couch, sitting on the other end.

Shaking her head, Yuffie tried to stay focused on why she was here and not try to think about what Belle said. "Belle, I'm looking for my kitten. Squall let her escape today. Have you seen her?"

Belle tapped her chin in thought for a moment. "Kitten? Hm, hold on and let me ask the brats." She turned around and looked towards the back of the apartment. "Kids! Come here a minute!" she yelled as Yuffie winced at her shrill voice.

Two boys and a little girl came running from the back of the house, each covered in a layer of dirt. "Yes mommy?" the girl asked.

"Have any of you seen Miss Yuffie's kitty today? She says it escaped." The kids all shook their heads vigorously...a little too vigorously. "Now, children, don't lie to mommy. You know we can't have any pets."

"But mommy," the youngest boy whined, "it's so cute. She's--"

He was interrupted when the oldest boy slapped the back of his head. "Good job, stupid. Now they know that we have it."

"Now, Timmy, if that kitty is here, please go get it for me. Miss Yuffie really misses her kitty," Belle told the youngest.

The little girl looked at Yuffie. "Are you the one that makes all the noise next door?" Yuffie felt her face turning a few interesting shades of crimson. "Mommy says you and Mr. Squall are wrestling. Why are you always wrestling?"

"Now, Winnie, that's not polite. If Miss Yuffie and Mr. Squall want to wrestle, that's their own business. Now you go make sure Timmy gets the kitty for Miss Yuffie. And take Cory with you." Belle waved her hands in a 'shoo' motion to send the kids out of the room. 

"I'm sorry about the noise," Yuffie began. "Squall didn't tell me until today how thin the walls are." She felt her blush deepen, if that was possible.

"Don't worry about it, sweetie. All kids have to learn the facts of life sooner or later." She paused for a moment. "In fact, I wasn't much older than you when I had Cory. Yep, those were the days." Belle drifted off into her memories while Yuffie tried to push the sudden image of being like her when she was that age away. 

Timmy came in a few minutes later, carrying a squirming black and white kitten in his arms. "Here Miss Yuffie," he said sadly as he handed the kitten over to her.

She held the kitten up to her face, rubbing noses and not caring that both Belle and her children were watching her. "Thank you, Timmy." Standing up, she headed for the door to let herself out, but Belle followed her.

"Now, Yuffie, if you ever get tired of Squall, then you let me know. I can use some fresh meat and I had my eye on him long before you came along." Belle patted her shoulder before closing the door on her.

Shuddering, Yuffie walked down the path to find Squall searching the bushes diligently. "I found her," she whispered as she snuck up on him.

He turned around to face her noticing the look of disgust on her face. "Where was she?"

"At Belle's apartment." She briefly wondered whether she should tell him what was said about him there, but quickly decided that what he didn't know couldn't hurt him. "Don't ever let me go back there again, Squall. Please," she begged. "I have the urge to bathe Dottie now, that place was so filthy."

"I don't think that would work out too well, Yuf." He placed an arm around her shoulders as they walked back to the apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walking to her car the next morning to go to work, Yuffie was stopped by a young man in his early twenties. "Hey, you're the girl living with the ex-marine, right?" he called as he walked towards her.

"Yeah, why?" she asked, annoyance coming through her voice as she was already running late.

Reaching her, he leaned on her car. "Well, don't you think you should date someone closer to your own age?"

She struggled to keep her temper down. "Look, what I do is none of your business. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna be late for work." As she put the key in the door, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm closer to your age, you know." He moved in closer to her. "Why don't you dump the old man and move in with me?"

The next thing Yuffie knew, he was holding his now bloody nose and she was grimacing at the pain in her knuckles. Shaking her hand, she walked back to the apartment. When she opened the door, she found Squall still sitting at the table reading the paper and drinking his coffee. "I though you were going to work?" he asked confusedly.

"I was, but I hurt myself and now I'm calling in sick," she muttered as she went to the freezer for an ice pack. Finding one, she wrapped it in a cup towel and sat at the table, holding it across the knuckles of her right hand.

"Okay, Yuf, what did you do?" he inquired.

"I...uh...hit someone," she stammered.

"WHY?"

"Some jerk was hitting on me. He even asked me to move in with him." Standing up, she walked over to the phone and began dialing the number for Wet Pets 'n' Critters to tell her manager that she wouldn't make it in today.

"Some guy hit on you?" Squall hissed, his face showing his anger as he stood up and made his way for the door.

Yuffie grabbed his arm before he could open the door. "Where are you going?"

"To finish the job."

"Squall, I broke his nose. I don't think he'll be hitting on me again."

Giving in, he walked back over to the table and sat down again, waiting for her to finish explaining to her manager why she wouldn't be able to come in. After she hung up, Squall looked at her. "Yuffie, I think we need to move."

"Why?" She continued to hold the ice pack on her bruised knuckles.

"I think we've managed to alienate everyone here. We need to start somewhere new." He lifted the ice pack and glanced at her knuckles, grimacing at the ugly purple bruise forming. "Besides, we need to leave before that guy presses charges," he added jokingly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As they were getting ready to check out a new apartment a few days later, Yuffie sat behind a shirtless Squall, calmly peeling the skin off his sunburn. Having pulled off the fourth large piece, she shook her head. "Squall, for someone who hates snakes, you sure do lose your skin like one," she murmured.

"Are you finished?" he asked, ignoring her comment.

"Yeah. That's all that's going to come off right now." Standing up, she reached over and handed him the shirt that was hanging over a chair. "So, you ready to go?"

He pulled the shirt over his head. "At least let me get my shirt on."

"Oh, but Squall, you look so much nicer without it," she pouted.

"So do you," he quipped as he got off the bed and tried to dodge Yuffie as she tried to swat him.

Locking the door behind them, Squall and Yuffie headed for his truck to view the prospective apartment. The apartment they were viewing today was located across town, closer to the University than their current home. However, the rent was higher, but Squall claimed that wasn't a problem as long as this apartment had thicker walls.

They arrived at the apartment complex and found the manager, who insisted on going with them to look at the apartment in question: a two bedroom, two bath apartment with a fireplace. Yuffie was looking forward to viewing this apartment as the past three they had seen in the last couple of days were nothing but rat-infested holes in the walls. 

Once the manager unlocked the door, he stayed in the living room area as Yuffie and Squall walked around the rest of the apartment. "Well, the bedroom's bigger," she muttered as she walked into the spacious master bedroom. "And it has a walk-in closet."

Squall grunted in reply, walking over to the bedroom window and looking out. "It's a corner apartment...and this bedroom doesn't share any walls with any other apartments," he said, grinning.

Yuffie walked into the bathroom and gasped. "Squall, come here!" she yelled.

Expecting a spider or bug of some sort, he quickly walked over. "What?" he asked, not seeing anything to cause her to gasp.

"Look at the bathtub," she commanded, pointing.

"Yeah...what about it?"

"It's...huge. Have you thought about what we can do in a bathtub that big?" She had a wicked twinkle in her eye.

Squall thought for a moment, then walked out of the bathroom and leaned his head out the bedroom door. "We'll take it," he hollered at the manager.

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Author's Note: Whew! *wipes forehead* That is the longest chapter I have ever written. It's just over 6,000 words and 15 pages!! I have _never_ written a chapter that long before. Anyways, I'm really looking forward to writing the next chapter. I hope to start it tomorrow morning, but I don't know how long it'll take to write. This chapter took 5 days to write, so I'm getting slower. Anyways, read and review! Oh yeah, if you recognize the name Belle Watling, it came from the book _Gone with the Wind_ I loved that book...anyways, Belle Watling was the prostitute in it...tells you what kind of character their neighbor is, doesn't it? hehe

VL: I FINALLY finished this chapter, and now I can move on to the chapter we've both been waiting for. *wicked evil grin*


	6. Chapter Six: Purgatory

Author's Note: I'm glad everyone has liked my story so far...at least, as far as I can tell from the reviews. I'm in shock, really. I have 88 reviews for five chapters. 0_0 I didn't expect near that many. And this is a very loooooong chapter. Maybe twice as long as the last. Oh, and a lot of the ideas in this chapter (and every other chapter in this story and 'These are the Days') came from the combined forces of both me and the VL....scary, isn't it? ^_^

Note to VQ: Hmm...I must have done something confusing in my author's note in the last chapter. I'm sorry, but I'm not VL....she just helps me with ideas. She doesn't write this. But, I'll send the review to her.

Note to Axa: I saw the A & E version of _Pride and Prejudice, _with Colin Firth_. _I loved it. And, like Yuffie, that book is my favorite book. Maybe that's why I made it Yuffie's favorite. hehe

Note to Anime-Master7: Plot? Hmm....I guess the plot could be just a series of events that happen to our beloved characters. Or, the chapters could all function as one-shots without a plot. 

Note to Peachgirl1608: I'm not trying to tie the events into VL's stories, per se. But, VL does help me brainstorm for ideas. In fact, I have loads of notes from conversations with her that I keep stacked up so I can use them. 

Note to ObsidianSorrows: The only reason I update faster than you is because I'm a college student who only goes to school 3 days a week, has no job, and live with my parents. Geez, when I write that, I feel so pathetic. ^_^

[Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy or any of the characters belonging to either of those. However, I do own Dottie and any other random character I decide to create. And, if Zephyr is in this chapter, she is the sole property of Vulpes Lapis.]

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_Chapter Six: Purgatory_

Standing in the living room of their new apartment, Yuffie dialed the telephone while rummaging through one of the many boxes that she and Squall had yet to unpack. As she heard the ringing, she nervously ran a hand through her short black hair and bit her lip as she waited for the person on the other line to pick up. Of all the phone calls she had to make, she dreaded this one most of all.

"Hello?" A surprisingly soft voice, considering who it belonged to, answered the phone.

"Mom, I just thought I'd call you up and see how you were," Yuffie said with fake cheerfulness, hoping that if she sounded happy, then her mother would stay happy and not yell.

"Oh, my one and only daughter has called me. It's been so long since you've called, that I was beginning to wonder if I should send flowers for the funeral." Yuffie winced at the sarcastic tone.

She took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing the conversation, if the one-sided griping and complaining could be called that. "Mom, I called to give you my new phone number. I moved to a new apartment."

"You're not living with that man anymore?" Mrs. Kisaragi asked hopefully, proceeding before Yuffie had a chance to correct her mistake. "Oh, Yuffie, I'm so happy! But," there was a pause, "you should've moved home."

Bracing herself, Yuffie decided her mother had to know the truth. "I worded that wrong, mother," she mumbled, the name 'mother' slipping out of Yuffie's mouth like it always did when she was becoming aggravated with her mother. There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end. "What I should have said, is Squall and I moved to OUR new apartment."

"Yuffie Hana Kisaragi! Where did I go wrong? I raised you to have morals and here you are, living with a man...unmarried!" Her mother's voice went back and forth from enraged to disappointed, the latter being the one that Yuffie always had trouble handling. It seemed as though she were always disappointing her parents, ever since she could remember. "Are you even listening to me, Yuffie?!" 

She shook her head as she realized that she had zoned out while her mother was yelling at her. "Yes, mother, I hear you," she muttered.

"And I haven't even seen you since your Spring Break in March. And here it is nearly July..." She carried on and on about how Yuffie never came to see her while Yuffie just stood there holding the phone and rolling her eyes.

Squall walked into the apartment right then, carrying a box marked 'kitchen.' He was about to ask Yuffie who she was talking to when he saw her rolling her eyes and not paying attention to what was being said. "Mother?" he mouthed across to her when she looked at him.

She nodded. "Yes, mother. I'll come see you soon. I have time off from work for the Fourth of July. I'll come up then, okay?" Of course, she didn't tell her mother she had ulterior motives for coming up there; those motives being the fact that a lot of her stuff was still in storage at their house and she had the desire to bring it here, so she could be completely moved out of her parents' house and in with Squall. "Then it's settled. I'll come up there July second and stay until the sixth, okay? Goodbye, mother." She hung the phone up, relief washing over her for getting that over with.

"So, you're really going to visit them? I think I remember you telling me after Spring Break that you were never going back to that 'hellhole' again," he laughed as he set the box down on the kitchen counter.

"Yes, I'm going up there. Besides, I do have some of my stuff still up there that I need to get, now that we have more room for it," she gestured around the spacious apartment that was much bigger than the one they had just moved out of. "Do me a favor," she said as she walked over to where he stood in the kitchen.

"What?"

She dropped to her knees and grabbed his legs. "Don't make me go alone!! PLEEEEEZE come with meeeee!!" she begged, looking up at him with pleading eyes. 

"Are you crazy?! They would kill me, Yuf!" he exclaimed, knowing full well that he wasn't stretching the truth too much. 

"But, Squa-allie..." she whined.

He stared at her in disbelief. "Yuffie, they just think of me as the man that corrupted their daughter. I don't think they want me to go with you when you visit them."

Standing back up, she brushed the dust from the knees of her blue jeans. "Okay, okay...you have a point. I'll go by myself, but I wish you would reconsider." She looked at him with hope in her dark blue eyes.

"Nope," he told her, shaking his head. "Besides, someone has to stay here to take care of Dottie. You wouldn't want her left all alone, now would you?" He used her weak point to his advantage.

"Zephyr would have gladly taken care of her while we were gone," she grumbled as she began to lift the dishes out of the box on the counter and place them in the cabinet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Somebody just shoot me now," Yuffie complained as she plopped down in the booth and lay her head in her arms on the table.

The pregnant Aerith signaled the waiter over. "Yuffie, at least place your order before you get melodramatic."

"Dr. Pepper and chicken fajitas," she mumbled indistinctly into her arms.

The waiter appeared confused. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but could you repeat that?" he asked quietly.

"She said 'Dr. Pepper and chicken fajitas,'" Kairi said, receiving astonished looks from Aerith, Zephyr, and the waiter. "What?"

"How did yo understand that garbled mess?" Zephyr wondered aloud while the waiter wrote the order down and left.

The red-head let out a soft laugh. "I was her roommate for a year, remember? This is what she sounded like every time the alarm woke her up." The explanation seemed to satisfy everyone.

Aerith stared at Yuffie's head which still lay in her arms. "Okay, Yuf. Are you gonna tell us what's wrong or not?"

The distraught young woman looked up. "I'm visiting my parents next weekend." Letting her head drop, she caused the whole table to shake when her forehead hit it.

"Well, it can't be all that bad, Yuffie," Zephyr consoled, earning a glare from Yuffie for it. "I mean, Squall has never met your parents, has he? This will give them a chance to get to know one another."

Aerith's green eyes widened in surprise. "Squall hasn't met your parents yet?! And you're living with him?!" To her, the meeting of the parents was something almost sacred and happen as soon as possible.

"They have a point, Yuf," Kairi added. "He really does need to meet them."

"Et tu, Kairi?" Yuffie muttered before letting out a loud sigh and raising her head. "That's the problem. Squall won't go with me. I think he's scared of them."

"You'll have to make him go," Zephyr said in a dangerously quiet voice. "What have you tried so far?"

"Besides dropping to my knees and begging, nothing," Yuffie told them softly.

Aerith appeared shocked. "And that didn't work? If I did that to Cloud, I could have anything I wanted."

"That's because you wouldn't ask him to visit the parents from Hell," Yuffie retorted.

"Maybe if you threatened to not cook for him. That always works with Sora," Kairi piped up.

Yuffie laughed at the suggestion. "That's because you can actually cook, Kairi. If Squall and I had to live off of what I can cook, we would have died from food poisoning a long time ago."

"Actually, you're on the right track, Kairi. Just the wrong appetite," Zephyr said thoughtfully, a wicked grin coming across her face.

The modest Aerith began blushing. "Are you talking about what I think you're talking about?" she stammered.

Zephyr rolled her eyes. "Oh, come off it, Aerith. You are pregnant, after all. So, you can't be that innocent."

"Zephyr, just to make sure we're all on the same track, enlighten us," Yuffie demanded.

"Threaten to cut off his sex, sweetie. It works with all men."

"Cut off his sex? You mean it grows back?" Kairi asked with a dumbfounded look on her face.

"Yes, Kairi, he's a lizard," Zephyr answered, sarcasm dripping from her voice. 

Yuffie thought quietly for a moment. "You know, that might just work." Just then, the waiter arrived, carrying their food. After her food was placed in front of her, Aerith's face turned green and she jumped out of the booth and ran for the bathroom, leaving the rest of them laughing.

A few minutes later, the green-eyes woman reappeared, her face pale and washed out. She pushed her plate away, grimacing at the smell. "Sorry...morning sickness," she explained apologetically.

"We assumed that," Yuffie said. "Feel better now?" Aerith nodded slightly as she lay her head down on the table and shut her eyes.

Kairi rubbed the pregnant woman's back soothingly. "When are you due, anyways?"

"February 5," she groaned as another wave of nausea swept over her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At a sport's bar across town, four men sat around a table, watching the game on the TV and munching on chips. "Why are we doing this again?" the youngest of the group, a nineteen year-old with spikey chocolate-colored hair, asked.

"Because, Sora, you know for a fact that the girl's are sitting around a table somewhere, talking about us," the silver-haired nineteen year old said as he hit Sora upside the head.

"Riku, that hurt!" Sora exclaimed, rubbing his head with one hand and trying to push his friend off of his seat with his other hand.

"Will you two calm down?" the long-haired brunette growled, icy blue eyes glaring at them.

The lone blonde of the group ran a hand through his spikey hair. "Sheesh, Squall. What's up your butt? You seem to be unusually preoccupied today."

"You're the one to talk, Cloud. Ever since you and Aerith got back from Annapolis, all you do is worry about her." Squall paused, grinning sardonically. "In fact, I'm surprised you let her out of your sight today."

Cloud pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and lay it on the table. "In case she needs me," he mumbled, grinning sheepishly and receiving loud guffaws from the others at the table.

"Cloud's right, though, Squall. You are acting like you have something on your mind," Sora spoke up.

Squall rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Yuffie wants me to go with her to visit her parents next weekend," he muttered.

Raising his eyebrows, Riku stared at him with his aquamarine eyes. "Are you going?"

"No," he said curtly, his voice leaving no room for argument unless someone was completely clueless and somehow missed that tone.

"It can't be that bad, Squall. Kairi's parents loved me." Sora ended up being that clueless person.

Dark blue eyes bored holes into the youth's head. "You don't understand, Sora. Her parents hate me. And you can't really blame them. I am the one who drove their daughter to suicide." Squall closed his eyes at the memory and ran a thumb down the scar Yuffie had given him last November.

Cloud reached over and squeezed his shoulder. "Don't be so hard on yourself. That's in the past. You can't change it."

"I know, but it doesn't change the fact that her parents hate me."

"You'll have to meet them sooner or later," Riku told him. "Might as well be sooner and get it over with."

Sora mumbled something around a mouthful of chips. Noticing their confused looks, he repeated himself. "So, how'd Yuffie take it?"

"Pretty bad, especially after her begging didn't work," the twenty-seven year old admitted. "She really doesn't want to go, but she hasn't been to see them since Spring Break."

Cloud whistled. "They're that bad, huh?"

"Yeah."

"So, Yuffie's probably griping about this with the girls right now, huh?" Sora asked.

Before Squall could answer, Riku began laughing. "Care to share the joke?" Squall grumbled.

"You better hope Zephyr doesn't share her method of manipulation with Yuffie," Riku said cryptically.

"I don't like the sound of this," Cloud muttered.

"You have no idea," Riku muttered, raising his eyebrows.

Sora punched Riku on the shoulder. "Enough suspense. Tell us what she does already," the young brunette demanded.

"I pity you, Squall, because if Yuffie follows Zephyr's advice, she'll cut off your sex," Riku explained, enjoying the looks of fear on all their faces. "And Kairi and Aerith may take her advice, too." He began laughing, ignoring their groans and sighs of disgust.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm so glad you decided to come with me, Squall," Yuffie said as she watched the scenery flash by them in Squall's truck as they started on the eight hour drive.

Squall quirked an eyebrow and glanced at her profile. "You didn't give me much choice. It was either insane parents or no sex for a month. Not much of a choice, now is it?"

Smiling, Yuffie pushed the divider between their seats up before unbuckling her seatbelt and scooting across into the middle seat. "Don't worry, Squall. I'll protect you from them," she murmured as she fastened the lap belt around her and leaned against Squall, who had draped his right arm over her shoulder.

"How long are we staying again?" he asked as he sped up and began to pass a long line of slow-moving vehicles on the Interstate.

"Just until the sixth. We'll only actually be there for three days, though, because it'll be late by the time we get there tonight and we'll leave early on the sixth." She paused before continuing. "Believe me, I don't want to be there anymore than you do."

"Yeah, sure," he muttered playfully as he bent down and kissed the top of her head, savoring the flowery scent of her freshly shampooed hair.

Snuggling even closer against his side, she yawned. "Mind if I take a nap?" she asked through another yawn, looking up at him with tired eyes.

"Nah, go ahead. I just stay on the Interstate, right?"

"Mm hmm, until you get to Highway 155, but that'll be awhile and I should be awake by then," she answered as she closed her eyes and sighed before falling asleep.

Squall drove in silence for the next few hours, turning the volume on the radio up to where he could just barely hear it, not wanting to awaken his beloved from her nap. Looking down at the gas gauge, he saw that they were down to a quarter of a tank. In the distance, he saw a gas station at the next exit. He turned off at that exit, pulling into the gas station and cutting the engine.

Struggling to wake up, Yuffie yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Where are we?" she mumbled.

"Winona. I'm just stopping for some gas." Squall gently pushed her up to where she could lean on the other seat, whispering, "Go back to sleep, baby."

Yuffie stretched and shook her head. "I'm gonna got get some food," she announced as she climbed across the driver's seat and out the door. "You want anything?"

"Yeah." Before she had a chance to ask what he wanted, he told her, "Anything will do. Just don't get me a Dr. Pepper...you know how much I hate them."

"Okay." Standing on tiptoe, she placed her hands on his shoulders, pulling him down slightly so she could give him a quick kiss. Her hands slipped their way around his waist and into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet. Taking out a twenty, she handed it back to him and said, "I'll be back in a minute."

"I want the change back," he called as she walked into the convenience store.

After fifteen minutes, Squall began to wonder if he should send a search party into the store after her, when he saw her coming out the door, her arms full of junk food. He sat in the driver's seat, trying not the laugh as he watched her struggle with the door. "You could've helped, you know," she mumbled when she finally climbed in.

"It was more fun watching you," he said, his voice full of mirth. He outstretched his arm towards her, palm up.

"What?" she asked confusedly.

"My change, Yuffie."

Sighing, she fumbled around in her pockets before pulling out a few coins. "There."

He looked at the money in his hand and then looked at her. "That's all? Fifty-three cents? But you took a twenty," he stated in disbelief.

She shrugged. "I was hungry." Reaching into the bag at her feet, she pulled out two drinks, a Dr. Pepper and a Pepsi. "Take your pick," she said as she held them out to Squall.

Rolling his eyes, he grabbed the Pepsi, taking a drink before starting his truck and heading back to the Interstate. "What all did you buy, anyways?" he asked as he glanced over at the bags at her feet.

"Um...chips...cupcakes...candy bars...."

"Maybe it would be easier if you told me what you didn't buy," he interrupted as she rustled among the bags. He leaned over and reached into a random bag, pulling out a Snickers bar. "Yuffie, your eating habits could put a hummingbird in a diabetic coma."

She took the candy bar away from him, opening it before handing it back to him. "But you love me anyway," she said as she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

"Did you buy anything even remotely healthy?"

Reaching into the bag again, she triumphantly pulled out a bag of Chex mix. "Does this count?" she asked as she opened the bag and began to eat it.

"Close enough, I guess," Squall muttered as he took a bite of the candy bar and continued driving down the road, listening to Yuffie crunching on her Chex mix. 

Suddenly, she reached out and turned the radio up to where she could actually hear it. "Why was it turned down so low, Squall?"

"So it wouldn't wake you up," he admitted.

Yuffie felt like melting right then and there at his consideration. "You didn't have to do that. The radio doesn't wake me up."

Squall gave her a perplexed look. "But you sleep like a bird at home."

"I know, but when I was little, my mother used to keep the radio on all night in my room to help me sleep." She flipped through the stations, stopping when she heard a song she liked. "I love this song!" she exclaimed, starting to sing along with the lyrics.

"What? 'Bailamos'?"

"Yes. You have no idea how unbelievably sexy I find Spanish," she confessed, immediately starting to sing once again.

As he raised his eyebrows, a thoughtful look came over Squall's face. "I'll have to keep that in mind," he murmured under his breath, sure that she didn't hear him over the music.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Turn right," Yuffie commanded as they drove down the typical street in a typical suburban neighborhood with all the cookie cutter houses, the night sky a sharp contrast to the white houses.

Doing as she told him, Squall turned the truck onto the cul-de-sac. "Okay....which house, Yuf?" he asked as he drove slowly past the houses with the perfectly manicured front yards.

"All the way, the house at the end." Yuffie began cracking her knuckles, a nervous habit she had picked up somewhere.

Squall shuddered and grabbed her hands in her lap. "Hey, hey....stop that! You know I hate it when you do that. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard."

Laughing apprehensively, she curled her fingers around his hand that was still in her lap. "Sorry. I just get so nervous when I come up here." She smiled apologetically at him. "And now, it's even worse because they're going to meet you." 

"Well, they weren't upset when you told them I was coming, were they?" He turned to glance at her when she didn't answer, noticing that she was biting her lip and looking even more fidgety if possible. "You did tell them, didn't you?" he questioned sternly.

She let out another short nervous laugh. "I was going to, but...but...my mother wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise. So...um...you're going to be a surprise to them," she faltered under his penetrating gaze.

Squall pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed in exasperation. "So, in other words, my coming is going to be a complete shock to them and, for all we know, they may not even let me stay here. Is that what you're saying?"

"It won't be that bad, Squall. If they won't let you stay, we can always get a hotel room." A wicked twinkle came in her eye. "It might be better that way, anyways."

Finally pulling into the driveway, Squall killed the engine and put his head in his hands. "Okay, Yuf. It's your show, now," he said quietly as he saw two figures coming out of the front door.

Yuffie plastered on a fake smile and burst out of the passenger door. "Mom, Dad...I'm so happy to be here!" she exclaimed with mock sincerity that seemed to be lost on her parents as she fiercely hugged them both in the hope that she could distract them from Squall, who was emerging from the driver's side.

"Yuffie, who came with you?" her mother asked suspiciously, turning her head toward Squall.

"Uh...mom, dad....this is Squall Leonheart....my boyfriend." Yuffie latched onto his arm and dragged him over to them, where he held his arm out to shake hands.

Yuffie's mother raised her eyebrows and looked at his outstretched hand. "Well, Mr. Leonheart, Yuffie didn't tell us you were coming and I don't have a room ready for you, so you'll have to stay elsewhere."

Mr. Kisaragi looked at his wife with a confused expression. "Honey, there is always the spare--" He was cut off by the withering look his wife gave him.

"The spare bedroom is in shambles, _dear_. I don't think we would want him staying in there, now do we?"

Squall kept glancing back and forth between the married couple, watching their exchange. Yuffie decided to take matters into her own hands. "Well, mother, Squall and I are going to stay at a hotel since you don't have room for him here." She gave him an impish grin that was not lost on her mother.

"Come to think of it, I cleaned the spare room just last week. It should work out fine," Mrs. Kisaragi said through clenched teeth. "Mr. Leonheart, you are welcome to stay here." No one could miss the fact that her politeness was forced.

"Please, call me Squall, Mrs. Kisaragi." He held his hand out to shake hands again, once again neither shook it, but turned away and headed back for the house. "A propósito, estoy pervertiendo a su hija, [By the way, I'm corrupting your daughter]," he muttered under his breath. 

With eyes wide with shock and a blush coming across her cheeks as she translated what he said in her mind, Yuffie turned around and hit his shoulder. Her mother turned around. "Did he say something?" she asked her daughter.

Yuffie shook her head vigorously. "No, mother. Nothing at all." Turning back to Squall, who had started to unload their suitcases, she glared at him. "You didn't tell me you spoke Spanish," she accused in a quiet voice.

"You learn something new everyday, Yuf," he said laughingly. "Like....how did you put it? You find Spanish 'unbelievably sexy,' wasn't it?"

Rolling her eyes, Yuffie rubbed her temples. "How do you know that they don't speak Spanish, Squall?"

"Lucky guess." He set both of their suitcases on the ground and shut the third door on the truck. "Besides, it's revenge for not telling me that they didn't know I was coming." Leaning over, he kissed her cheek. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her mother glaring at them from the front window. "Are they like this with all the boyfriends you bring home?"

She smiled. "Nope. You're the first one that I've had that they didn't pick, remember?" Glancing at her mother's silhouette in the window, she pulled Squall back down for a much more passionate kiss than just a peck on the cheek. As they broke away, she looked at the window to see her mother was no longer standing there. Grabbing the handle of her suitcase, she headed up the walkway to the front door. "Are you coming?" she asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Yeah. I'm coming." He followed her up to the front door, taking a deep breath to prepare himself for the lion's den he was about to step into. Once inside, Squall noticed the living room appeared to be immaculate, wondering how a person who grew up here could be as messy as Yuffie. 

Mrs. Kisaragi turned to her daughter. "Yuffie, show Mr. Leonheart where he'll be sleeping." Seeing the mischievous look on her Yuffie's face, she elaborated. "In the spare room, Yuffie." Wrinkling her nose in disappointment, Yuffie mumbled under her breath a few choice curses she had learned from Squall. "What was that?" her mother questioned, her eyebrows raised.

Yuffie put on the biggest fake smile she could muster under the circumstances. "Nothing, mother. Nothing at all." Beginning to ascend the stairs, she looked back down at Squall. "Come, _Mr. Leonheart. _Let me take you to your room," she said, trying her best to sound like a proper British butler before she burst out laughing.

Squall spared a glance to watch her continue up the stairs before turning and looking at Mrs. Kisaragi. "Thank you, ma'am, for letting me stay here. If I had known Yuffie hadn't told you I was coming, I would have stayed at the apartment," he said, an apologetic tone in his voice as he hoped to make amends.

"You're welcome to stay in the spare room, Mr. Leonheart. Whomever my daughter brings home, I can only hope to accommodate them," she told him curtly before turning on her heel and leaving the room.

Flipping through the channels on the TV with the remote, Mr. Kisaragi sat in the large black recliner. "Mr. Leonheart, how old are you exactly?"

"Twenty-seven."

"You do realize that my daughter is only nineteen, don't you?"

Not liking where this was going, Squall rubbed his eyes before nodding. "Yes, sir. I know that." _Yuffie, I could use some help down here,_ he silently begged. He waited in silence for the older man to say something. Realizing that the conversation was over, he picked up his suitcase and went upstairs in search of Yuffie.

As he was walking slowly down the hall and not seeing Yuffie anywhere, an arm shot out of the closed door he had just past and grabbed him, dragging him into the bedroom. "Took you long enough to get up here!" Yuffie exclaimed as she shut the door behind him.

"I was talking to your parents." Squall decided not to tell her what they were talking about, remembering the saying 'ignorance is bliss.' He looked around the room, noticing all the origami cranes, doves, and butterflies hanging from the ceiling by ribbons. Raising his eyebrows, he looked down at Yuffie, who was perched on the edge of a full-size bed. "You really like origami, huh?"

Shrugging, she threw herself back on the bed. "It was a hobby of mine in high school. It kept me occupied since my parents wouldn't let me do anything." She patted the dark green comforter covering the bed, beckoning him over. "Sit down," she commanded gently.

He complied, pushing her to the side gently. "Sure your mom won't kill me for being in her with you...unsupervised?" he teased as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"If I stand in front of you, I don't think she'll go through me to get you. I am her only child, after all," she quipped, sitting up. Squall yawned. "Tired?" she asked concernedly.

"A little bit. I didn't take a nap on the trip, like someone else I know."

Yuffie stood up, grabbing both of his hands and pulling. "Well, come on. I'll take you to bed."

Squall allowed himself to be pulled up. "Are you _sure_ I can't stay in here? With you?" he asked hopefully.

"Believe me, Squall, it's for your own protection that I'm putting you in the spare room." She released his hands and walked out the door and into the hallway, leaving Squall with no choice but to follow her.

Picking up the suitcase he had set down in her room, he stepped across the hall and into the spare room, where Yuffie was already turning down the bed covers for him. He set his suitcase down inside the door. "Um, Yuffie, where's the bathroom?"

"Last door on your right," she said as Squall unzipped his suitcase and pulled out his toothbrush and toothpaste, then went into the bathroom. While he was gone, Yuffie picked his shirts up out of the suitcase and hung them up in the closet, brushes the wrinkles out with her hands. Deciding that since they were only staying for a couple of days, the rest of his clothes could stay in the suitcase, she zipped it back up and placed it at the foot of the bed.

Squall stood in the doorway as she finished, silently watching her as she whisked around the room, preparing it for him. "Having fun?" he called from his position.

She looked up, a slight blush coming across her face. "Just want to make sure you'll be comfortable," she said as she closed the distance between them and pulled his head down. "Mm...you smell minty-fresh. Bet you taste minty-fresh, too," she murmured as their lips met. Squall's hands made their way to her waist, lifting her up slightly and pulling her closer as her hands tangled themselves in his russet mane.

"What is THIS?" a harsh voice called. Yuffie groaned as Squall let her drop back to the floor.

Rolling her eyes, Yuffie turned around and saw her mother standing at the top of the stairs. "It's called a kiss, mom. We're still young. There's affection in our relationship," she replied sarcastically, causing her mother to let out a disgusted huff and go back downstairs. Yuffie smiled and looked back up at Squall, who had a dazed look on his face. "Hey, are you okay?" she whispered.

"Yeah, but I think I'm missing a tonsil." He moved his tongue around his mouth like he was searching for something.

Yuffie grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment." Reaching up, she put a hand behind his neck, pulling his head down to give him a quick kiss. "Goodnight, Squall."

He kissed her again. "Buena noche, [Goodnight] Yuf," he said, grinning at the look she gave him.

"Squall, you have to stop that. You have no idea how much Spanish turns me on."

"All the more reason for me to do it." Chuckling, he closed the door before she could hit him.

Deciding she would grab something to eat before taking herself to bed, Yuffie made her way downstairs and into the kitchen, where her mother was sitting on a stool at the counter, drinking a cup of tea. "Yuffie, how old is Mr. Leonheart?" Mrs. Kisaragi demanded.

"_Squall _is twenty-seven, mother," she called over her shoulder as she rummaged around in the refrigerator.

"Where did you meet him?" 

Yuffie turned around and threw her head back. "At school, mother. I've told you all this before."

Her mother narrowed her eyes. "What is a twenty-seven year old doing in college? Shouldn't he have a job by now?"

"He was in the marines for eight years before he was discharged. Now, he's majoring in Pre-law." She pulled a cup of yogurt out of the refrigerator and a spoon from the drawer and sat down across from her mother.

"And just why was he discharged, Yuffie?"

Swallowing her mouthful of yogurt, Yuffie struggled to keep her temper in check. "He was diagnosed as bi-polar after his fiancé died."

"Bi-polar?! Fiancé?!" 

"Yes, mother. His fiancé died in a car crash a couple of years ago." She took another bite of yogurt. "Is there anything else, mother? Do you want to know his complete history?" she asked sarcastically.

"Yuffie Hana, he's a madman!" her mother hissed as she stood up and stalked out of the room.

Yuffie rolled her eyes once again, muttering "whatever" under her breath as she finished the cup of yogurt. Going back upstairs, she stopped by her room for her toothbrush before heading to the bathroom to prepare for bed. Once finished, she stepped back into the hallway to find her mother with a roll of packing tape, taping Squall's door shut. "Mother, what are you doing?"

"Making sure he doesn't molest you in your sleep!" she answered, glaring at his door.

Staring at her for a moment in disbelief, Yuffie's eyes widened. "Are you out of your sadomasochistic MIND?"

"My WHAT?" 

"See, if you'd gone past the tenth grade, you'd know what word meant!"

Her mother glowered at her for a moment before finishing with the tape on Squall's door and returning her stare to Yuffie. "Are you going to bed?" she demanded.

"Yes, mother." She walked into her room, hearing the taping being unrolled and stuck to seal her door as soon as it was shut. "Crazy old woman," she muttered as she changed clothes and climbed into bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yawning and stretching, Squall made his way downstairs the next morning, receiving a deadly glare from Mrs. Kisaragi. Confused, he continued into the dining room where he found Yuffie, alone and eating a bowl of cereal. He sat down next to her, leaning over and whispering, "Why was there tape on my door?"

"It was one of my mother's sick ideas. She was trying to protect me from you while I slept," she muttered as she finished her cereal, standing up and taking her bowl to the kitchen. "You want some, Squall?" she called.

"Yeah." After she returned with his breakfast, he continued. "So, that's why she was glaring at me this morning? Because I had broken the tape seal?"

Yuffie nodded. "Yep. She gave me the glare, too."

"But I got up to use the bathroom. What does she want me to do, pee out the window?"

"She would rather that than risk midnight visits." 

"If I knew I would have gotten in this much trouble, I'd have at least stopped in to pay my respects."

Yuffie gazed at him while he ate, noticing the rings under his eyes. "You didn't sleep well, last night, did you?" she finally inquired.

Squall shook his head. "I got maybe three hours of sleep. I kept having nightmares. Plus," he gave her a grin, "I was lonely. I even missed the cat."

Yuffie started rubbing his back, soothingly. "Poor baby," she murmured. "Care to tell me what the nightmares were about?"

Chuckling, he turned to look at her. "Just don't let your parents hear, okay?" Seeing her nod and smile, he began. "I dreamt I was in a torture chamber and your parents had me lined up against the wall, ready to emasculate me." Covering her mouth, Yuffie tried to stifle the laughter. "Hey, it's not funny," Squall complained, then realized that it actually was. "Okay, but not that funny."

"Don't worry, Squall. The Homeowner's Association confiscated the torture chamber years ago." Before she could say anything else, her parents came downstairs, her mother glaring at the two of them. "Good morning, mother. Beautiful day, isn't it?" 

Ignoring her daughters sarcastic tone, Mrs. Kisaragi picked her purse up off the counter. "Yuffie, your father and I are going to the store. Will you be okay here without us?" She stared purposively at Squall.

Her husband grabbed her arm. "Honey, I think Yuffie will be fine without us." As he pulled her towards the front door, Mrs. Kisaragi gave her daughter a parting glance, shutting the door firmly behind them.

By now, Squall had finished his cereal and was taking the bowl into the kitchen, placing it into the sink and running it full of water. Two arms wrapped around him and a warm body pressed itself into his back. "Squall, we have the house to ourselves," Yuffie mumbled into his back.

Turning around, he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Yuffie, you can't possibly be thinking of doing that in your parents' house." He saw the evil twinkle in her eye. 

"Oh, why not, Squall? They're going to be gone for awhile. It's not like we'll get caught or anything," she said pleadingly. "I know you wanna." Reaching up, she pulled his head down. "Besides, that's half the thrill," she breathed into his ear before releasing him and walking towards the stairs.

Squall stood there for a few minutes, holding his resolve, as he watched her disappear from his view when she reached the upper hallway. "Aw, hell. I give up," he muttered as he quickly ran up the stairs and followed her. He found her standing just inside her bedroom, counting down on her fingers. "What are you doing?" he whispered as he leaned over her to place a few kisses down her neck.

"I knew you would get up here before I even reached five." She grabbed the hem of his shirt and started tugging while Squall started working on the buttons on her blouse, both of them making their way for the bed. Yuffie was soon pushed into soft mattress while Squall's mouth made its way to her collarbone, biting and sucking gently. The sudden sound of a whirring motor beneath her room caused Yuffie to groan. "Shit!" she exclaimed, which was followed by a string of curses he had never heard come out of her mouth, as she struggled to sit up.

"Yuffie, where did you learn that?" he demanded, rolling over to let her get up.

"From you." She fumbled with the buttons on her shirt while Squall sat on the edge of the bed, watching her confusedly. "They're back," she explained as she threw his shirt over to him which he immediately pulled over his head.

Hearing the front door slam, Yuffie ran downstairs, feeling a little flustered as she saw her mother eyeing her suspiciously. "Yuffie, why is your face red?" she asked, her suspicions growing as she saw Squall emerge at the head of the stairs as well.

"Uh...coughing fit," she said lamely, knowing her mother wouldn't buy the excuse, but also wouldn't come right out and contradict her either. "What are you doing back, mother? I thought you and dad went shopping?"

"I forgot the shopping list." Mrs. Kisaragi walked into the kitchen and picked up a slip of paper laying on the counter. "Mr. Leonheart, I hope you slept well last night," she said curtly, glaring at him.

Confused by what caused the glare this time, Squall replied, "Yes, ma'am. Slept fine."

The older woman pursed her lips in disapproval before walking back out the door and to her car in the garage where her husband was waiting for her. Yuffie turned to Squall, then busted out laughing and pointing. "Squall, you-, your fly is o-, open," she managed to gasp out between the giggles.

"Thanks for telling me sooner," he muttered as he zipped it up. Yuffie walked to the couch, plopping herself down and grabbing the remote. "Anything decent on?" he asked as he sat down beside her while she flipped through the channels.

"Nope, how about a movie?" She jumped up from the couch and went to the video cabinet, rummaging around until she found what she was looking for. "Ah-HAH! I haven't seen this movie in forever!" she cried as she put the tape into the VCR.

"Dare I ask what it is?" Squall wondered aloud as she came back to the couch, settling down beside him and snuggling up to his side.

Yuffie pushed the 'play' button on the remote. "Just wait and see. It's a surprise." She fast-forwarded through the previews, finally reaching the movie. 

Squall groaned. "Mulan? We're watching Mulan?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. I like Mushu. He's so cool!"

"He's ANNOYING! He's like a gecko with ADHD."

"I know, that's why he's so cool," Yuffie explained as she watched Mulan struggle with the match-maker. She suddenly snorted.

Squall looked down at her. "What?"

"I just realized that the match-maker reminds me of my mother." She bit her lip to keep from laughing too loud while Squall rubbed the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. Becoming engrossed in the movie, with only the occasional quips, Yuffie didn't even realize her parents had come home until she felt eyes boring their way into the back of her head. She turned around to find her mother glaring at her. "Mom, chill! It's not like we DID anything!" she cried, blushing.

The tension in the air could be cut with a knife. "You might not live with us, anymore, Yuffie. But you are still my daughter." The tone in her mother's voice chilled the air. "And while you are under my roof, you will obey my rules. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," Yuffie sneered, standing up and pulling Squall up with her. "But I don't remember there being a rule against watching a movie. Now, if you'll excuse us, I'm going to show Squall around town." She slipped on the pair of sandals sitting by the door.

Squall's eyes darted back and forth between the two women, not really knowing what to say. Shrugging and smiling apologetically to Mrs. Kisaragi, he walked out the front door with Yuffie.

"I don't like him," Mrs. Kisaragi said to her husband.

"That's no secret. But, do you have a valid reason for disliking him so?" he inquired curiously.

She glared at him. "Yes. He's twenty-seven and living with our daughter. Plus, did you see that scar? He probably got it in some gang fight."

Mr. Kisaragi sighed. "Dear, you can't control what Yuffie does anymore. She's neither living with us nor dependent on us for anything any longer. You have to accept the fact that she's grown up," he calmly explained.

"I still don't like him," she muttered under her breath.

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After walking around town and stopping into a few shops, Squall and Yuffie reluctantly returned to her parents' house as it neared dusk. Preparing to step into the house, she whispered, "do we really have to go back in there? Can't we just run away?"

"And where, pray tell, do you suggest we run away to?" Squall asked pragmatically as they continued up the walkway, coming closer and closer to the door.

"Let's go to the Bahamas and stay locked in our hotel room until the board of health makes us come out. C'mon, please?" Grabbing his hand, she begged shamelessly with her eyes.

Sighing, Squall rubbed the back of his neck with his other hand. "Sounds like a good plan, Yuf. But there's one problem."

"What?"

"My keys are in there," he said, pointing to the house. "So, we'll still have to go in." He pulled her towards the door while she threw her head back in disgust. "It's just a two more days, Yuffie. I think we can handle two more days, can't we?"

She groaned. "That's two more days of hell," she muttered as they opened the front door and stepped inside to find her parents sitting in the living room. Her father, as usual, was watching a rerun of some sit-com on Nick-at-Nite while her mother sat on the sofa, working on a cross-stitch.

Mrs. Kisaragi turned to look at them as they came in. "So, you're finally back. You two were gone so long I was afraid you two had gotten lost." 

Surprised that her mother wasn't yelling, Yuffie stared at her, dumbfounded. Squall noticed this and decided to take matters into his own hands. "No ma'am, we didn't get lost. Yuffie was just showing me everything the town had to offer," he said politely, hoping to make amends.

Her mother raised her eyebrows. "Is that so, Mr. Leonheart? Well, I'm sure a man like yourself didn't find much interesting in a town like this. I mean, after all, unlike the big cities where you probably come from, this town still has morals."

Realizing he walked right into that one, Squall tried to take up for himself. "Actually, Mrs. Kisaragi, I was raised in a town much smaller than this."

"But, surely, that was so long ago that your hometown has grown into something much larger and more immoral than our town," Mrs. Kisaragi replied smiling, having forgone the blatantly rude method she had used earlier.

Sighing, Yuffie decided to interrupt the conversation. "Mom, why didn't you tell me they tore down 'The Hop?' I was hoping to take Squall there for lunch." Growing up, she had loved going to the retro diner.

Her dad actually put the TV on mute and joined the conversation. "Yuffie, they took it down last month because it was falling apart. Besides, kids today didn't want to eat there. They all prefer fast food." Having said this, he immediately turned the volume back up and went back to the show he was watching.

Looking at the clock, Yuffie saw that it was already after eight o'clock and neither she nor Squall had eaten dinner. "Mom, are there any leftovers in the fridge?" she questioned hopefully.

"Hmm...well, I think there's some fried rice leftover from the other night, but it should still be good," she finally admitted.

Yuffie grabbed Squall's hand, dragging him into the kitchen where she immediately pulled the container of fried rice out of the refrigerator and poured it into two bowls before placing it into the microwave to warm up. "The one good thing I can say about my mom is she knows how to cook," she confessed as she carried the soy sauce, napkins, and silverware to the table.

Squall reached into the cabinet, seizing two glasses which he promptly filled with ice. "Hm...you would think you would've taken after her," he teased as she took the bowls out of the microwave and carried them to the table as well.

"Well, if I had, I would be left wondering if you only kept me around for my cooking, then wouldn't I? At least this way, I know you really love me." She smiled at him as he brought the two glasses of tea over to the table.

"Yuffie, I would love you no matter what, and you know it," he whispered as he leaned over and kissed her before sitting down to eat his dinner. 

The rest of their night was spent watching TV with her parents, making sure to keep a little space between them as to not upset her mother, who was watching them like a hawk watches it prey. 

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On the morning of the Fourth of July, Squall wandered downstairs to find Yuffie sitting in the den at a little card table she had set up and working on a jigsaw puzzle. Sneaking up on her and not seeing her parents anywhere around, he kissed the back of her neck, eliciting a quiet squeal from her. "What are you doing?" he asked against her neck.

"A puzzle." She turned around in her seat, facing him so she could kiss him as she pulled his head closer. "Wanna help?" she whispered as they broke the kiss.

"And if I say no?" Yuffie couldn't miss the playful tone in his voice.

"Then I won't give you your surprise tonight."

He raised his eyebrows as he pulled up a chair and sat down across from her. "What kind of surprise?"

Giving him her best impish grin, she replied. "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise. You'll just have to wait and see." They spent the next few hours hunched over the fifteen hundred piece puzzle, taking a break only when Squall's stomach demanded to be fed. Astonishingly, Yuffie's mother did not spy on them while they were working on it as she had one of her rare migraines and was lying in her room, a cold compress on her forehead. Her father, on the other hand, passed through the room occasionally, giving them discerning glances as he did so.

Finally putting the last piece of the puzzle in place, Squall stood up, his back popping from being bent over the table. He winced at the noise, muttering, "I hate when that happens."

"It's 'cause you're getting old, ya know," Yuffie said jokingly, dodging as he made a grab for her. "See, you're too old to catch me." Running around the room and laughing, she managed to keep dodging him as he lunged for her.

"Old, huh? I'm gonna show you old," he growled playfully when he finally caught her, knocking them both onto the old sofa her parents kept in the room. Having her at his mercy, Squall started tickling her sides, the most ticklish area on her body.

Shrieking with laughter as she struggled to push him off of her, she tried to catch her breath. "S-, stop," she managed to gasp out.

"Not until you take back what you said about me being old." He kept tickling her relentlessly and refused to let her up. 

"O-, okay." He stopped tickling her momentarily so she could speak. "You're not so old, after all."

He leaned down, kissing the top of her nose. "Good," he murmured, lowering his mouth to hers when he heard a cough behind them. Jumping up, he turned to find Yuffie's father standing in the doorway, watching them.

Yuffie sat up, blushing. "Oh...uh, hi dad," she stammered.

"I was just checking to see what all the commotion was about," he said softly. "But, you might want to keep it down. You know how the noise bothers your mother when she has a headache," he reminded her before turning around and leaving them.

Eyes wide with shock, Yuffie gave Squall an amazed look. "Wow...I think my dad actually likes you."

"You really think so?" he asked hopefully.

She gave him an incredulous look. "Well, he didn't throw you out just now. That has to be a good sign."

Squall pondered this for a moment before answering. "Well, one down and one to go," he finally said.

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Her headache not subsiding until late that afternoon, Mrs. Kisaragi submitted to Yuffie's request of ordering takeout for dinner, since no one else in the household was able to cook anything that could be considered edible. Mrs. Kisaragi was still so groggy from her headache, that Yuffie managed to convince her to order pizza, a food that was hardly ever eaten there.

The ringing of the doorbell, signaling the arrival of dinner, sent Mrs. Kisaragi into the kitchen, clutching her head while Yuffie paid the delivery man. "Dinner's served," she announced as she carried the two boxes to the dining room table.

"Yuffie, do you have to be so loud?" her mother called painfully from the kitchen.

"Sorry, mother," Yuffie replied disdainfully.

Squall walked up to her. "Shouldn't you be a little more considerate?" he whispered in her ear.

"Nah, she always gets a headache when things aren't going her way. She's been like this my whole life. I'm just used to it, I guess," she explained quietly before sitting down at the table.

Raising his eyebrows at her confession, he sat across from her while her parents sat at each end. They ate in silence, giving Mrs. Kisaragi the peace and quiet she needed. Grabbing another slice of pizza, Squall suddenly felt a bare foot running its way up his leg. He looked across the table to Yuffie, who smiling devilishly at him. She continued this throughout the meal, finally mouthing, "hurry up and eat" to him when her parents weren't looking.

Seeing that Squall had finally finished eating, Yuffie stood up. "Mom, dad...Squall and I are going to go watch the fireworks," she announced, noticing the confused look on Squall's face.

"Our people invented the fireworks," Mr. Kisaragi piped up from the end of the table, receiving strange looks from everyone.

His wife sighed. "Yuffie, you can see the fireworks just fine from here," she muttered as she massaged her temples.

"Yes, mother. But you know as well as I do that you can see them better at the lake." Yuffie pushed down the urge to scream while Squall just sat there, watching them.

"Yuffie, I want you to stay here," her mother said, a note of command coming into her voice.

Rolling her eyes, a habit of hers that always occurred more often here than it did anywhere else, Yuffie motioned for Squall to follow her as she walked away from the table. "Mother, don't wait up for us," she said as they reached the front door.

Once outside, Yuffie took a deep breath while Squall rubbed her shoulders. "She's just worried about you," he whispered as he guided her to the truck and opened the door for her.

"I know...but it gets so annoying. She just can't accept the fact that I've grown up." She watched Squall as he walked around the truck to climb into the driver's side door. "Anyways," she started, desperate to change the subject, "surprise!"

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye while he backed the truck up. "This is the surprise? Watching fireworks at the lake?"

"I didn't say what type of fireworks we would be watching. Think, Squall. We're going to be out at the lake....alone....no parents....nobody knows about the place we're going." Giving him another sly smile, she continued. "We'll be seeing fireworks, but not the kind that go off in the sky, if you get my drift."

"Which way to the lake, again?"

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Having returned to the Kisaragi household near midnight after spending hours at the lake on the blanket they had found in the backseat of Squall's truck, glad that marines, even ex-marines, are prepared for anything, Yuffie and Squall both went to their separate bedrooms to sleep, lingering in her doorway to say goodnight. The next morning found Yuffie arising from bed around ten o'clock, worried about Squall since he might be alone with her parents. Quickly throwing some clothes on, she rushed downstairs only to find that Squall was still in his room and her parents were sitting at the table reading the paper.

Her mother looked up, her eyes narrowing when she saw Yuffie's neck. "Yuffie, what is that on your neck?" 

Yuffie's hand flew to her neck where Squall had left a hickey the night before. "Mosquito bite, mother. You know how bad they are at the lake." Realizing how adept she was becoming at lying to her parents, she sat down and rifled through the paper until she found the comics.

Her father stared at her over the paper in his hand, his eyes the only part of his face visible, leaving Yuffie wondering what his expression was. "Yuffie, are you happy?" he asked quietly.

Blinking her eyes in shock, she turned to look at him. "Yes....why?" Mr. Kisaragi just nodded, going back to reading the newspaper. Yuffie stood up, shrugging her shoulders and walking upstairs. "I'm gonna go wake up Squall," she told them as she left.

She found him tangled in the sheets of his bed and clutching his pillow. Covering her mouth to stifle the laugh she felt bubbling up, she crept over to him and sat on the edge of the bed. She leaned over him, whispering in his ear. "Squall...Squall....Squallie."

Opening one blue eye, he stared at her. "You know I don't like the name 'Squallie,'" he mumbled sleepily.

"I know...but at least it woke you up."

He rubbed his eyes in an attempt to wake up. "What time is it, anyway?" 

"Nearly eleven." 

"That late, huh?" he asked, wincing.

"Yeah." She sat there, gazing into his blue eyes. "Squall, let's leave today. I can't stand another day here. I'm literally going insane."

Sitting up, he smiled at her. "Are you sure? 'Cause you know I'd do anything you want me to. Even stay here if you asked me to."

She nodded. "Yes, I'm sure." Reaching down, she pulled him up. "C'mon...get dressed so we can hurry up and leave." 

"Alright, already. I'm getting up."

Once she was sure he was up, she went back downstairs to break the news to her parents, who were still sitting at the table. "Mom, dad...Squall and I decided that we're going to leave today," she told them softly, hoping her mother would take it quietly.

"But, Yuffie, you only jus--" her mother started, but was cut off by her husband.

"If that's what you want, Yuffie," he said.

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Preparing to leave, Squall and Yuffie carried box after box of the stuff she had salvaged from her room, which included the origami birds that she had taken down only that morning and carefully packed. It had taken her three hours to pack her things since she insisted on wrapping everything remotely breakable in newspaper, so it ended up being closer to two o'clock in the afternoon before they even started to load the truck.

Yuffie's father came outside to watch them, a contemplative look on his face. As Squall passed by him on his way back for another box, Mr. Kisaragi stopped him. "Mr. Leonheart, may I please have a word with you? Alone?"

Although nervous, Squall nodded, following the older man into the house and into the den, where the was shut. "What is it, Mr. Kisaragi?" he asked confusedly.

"Mr. Leonheart, you make my daughter happy. That is something that I have not seen since she was a young child," he began. Squall opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped. "I've watched the two of you these past few days, trying to discover what you wanted with her."

"Sir, with all due respect, I'm not using your daughter. I--" He was cut off once again.

"I know that, now. Mr. Leonheart. Like I said, I've watched you the past few days and not only did I see how happy you make her, but I saw how happy she makes you. You love her, don't you, Mr. Leonheart?" 

Squall smiled, pleased with Mr. Kisaragi's assessment. "Yes, sir. I love her very much."

"Good. Now, go help her load the truck."

Squall stuck his hand out, hoping Mr. Kisaragi would shake it this time. "Thank you, sir." The older man looked at his hand for a moment, then grasped it. Releasing his hand, Squall turned and left the den to help Yuffie, who was struggling down the stairs with a large box. He gently took it from her arms and carried it out to the truck for her.

"Where were you?" she asked following him.

"Talking with your father." He pushed the box into the backseat of the truck, slamming the door as it was the last one.

"With my father?" Her eyebrows raised as she said this. Squall nodded.

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After being on the road for nearly five hours, Yuffie looked over at Squall suddenly. "Hey, you never told me. Where did you learn Spanish?"

"I was stationed in Spain for awhile." A smile came across his face, as he spared a glance from the road to look at her. "Por qué?" [Why?]

Groaning, she looked back out the window. "Don't even start, Squall. You don't know how much that turns me on."

"Eso es el razón que lo estoy haciendo." [That is the reason I'm doing it] He gave her one of her own evil grins.

Yuffie reached into the backseat, rummaging through a box and pulling out a CD player and headphones, which she placed on her head, sticking her tongue out at him. "There, now I can't hear you." She watched the scenery pass by as she listened to the music until she felt the headphones being pulled from her head. "Hey! No fair," she complained.

"Todos son justo en el amor y guerra [All's fair in love and war]," he said in a sing-song voice as he put the headphones on the other side of him, out of her reach.

Whimpering, she lay her head against the window. "You're so mean."

"Yo sé." [I know] He continued driving down the Interstate, speaking in Spanish the whole time to her to her frustration.

"If you don't stop that soon, you'll either have to stop at a hotel or risk me attacking you while you drive," she murmured as the Spanish drove her over the edge.

"Hay solomente dos horas hasta que llegamos al apartamento [There's only two hours until we arrive at the apartment]." Looking over at her while he said this, he saw her start beating her head against the window.

"I wish I had never told you how sexy I find Spanish. You're just going to keep this up until we get home, aren't you?" She rubbed her forehead as she finally stopped hitting the window with it.

"Sí, porque es muy divertido y te quiero [Yes, because it's a lot of fun and I love you]."

Yuffie groaned again. "You're killing me, Squall. You do realize that, don't you?" Since he didn't answer, she decided to ask him something else. "By the way, how do you roll your 'r's? I can't do it."

Shrugging, he answered her. "I don't know. Flexible tongue, I guess."

She raised her eyebrows, thinking for a moment. "Well, that explains a lot," she said wonderingly. "I'm glad you went back to English, by the way...I don't know how much longer I could have held out."

"Realamente? [Really?]" He chuckled at her groan. "Just kidding, Yuf. I'll wait until we get back home before I start up again."

"Good, because I really didn't want to finish this by myself." Squall nearly drove the truck off the road when he realized what she meant by that.

Shaking his head, he looked at her with wide eyes. "Geez, Yuffie. Spanish turns you on that much?"

"Like I said before, you have no idea." She rubbed her eyes tiredly. 

Two hours later, Squall was pulling the truck into the apartment parking lot. As soon as he killed the engine, he turned to Yuffie, who was already unbuckling and opening the door. He leaned over, his mouth near her ear where he breathed "te quiero [I love you]."

"Don't start unless you plan to finish this time," she murmured as she pulled away and climbed out of the truck and started for their apartment. Squall quickly climbed out, almost running as he followed her. Catching her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and brought his mouth down to the back of her neck. She spun around in his arms as he pushed her up against the wall near their door, crushing his mouth against hers while fumbling with the doorknob.

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Author's Note: Okay...I am officially Brain Dead as of right now. This chapter has sucked my brain dry. And I honestly think that this chapter is crap. But, right now, I'm just gonna post it and hope for the best. Um...don't expect an update on this story for a long while. "Shattered Dreams" keeps picking at my brain. So, this story is getting put on the back burner. And, honestly, I have not proof-read this chapter because I'm too tired right now. So, I'm just gonna post it, and if there's anything seriously wrong with it, just tell me and I'll repost, kay?

Note to VL: Oh, you owe me soooo big right now. You have no idea how much my head hurts. By the way, 11,000 words and 27 pages. Yeah...I'm completely braindead.


	7. Chapter Seven: Nightmares

_Author's Note: Okay, I forgot to put this note at the bottom of the last chapter. The Spanish in that chapter was probably off in some ways because I'm not a native speaker. I just took it in high school and college, but I never became fluent. So, because of that, I tried to stay clear of the complicated verb tenses and stuff and I know I probably made some mistakes, but I'm sure everyone will forgive me, right? _

_Anyways, I know everyone has been waiting for an update on this story, but "Shattered Dreams" had possessed me and now that I'm finished with it, I can work on this as well as others now. And this chapter probably will not be near as long as the previous one._

_[Disclaimer: Nope, don't own anything except their cat and any other character that you don't recognize from KH...of course, you might recognize one of the original characters from another one of my fics. wicked evil grin And Vulpes Lapis owns Zephyr in case she appears in this chapter.]_

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_Chapter Seven:_ _Nightmares_

"Hey, Kairi, when's your lunch break?" Yuffie called as she walked into the coffee shop located next to the pet store where she worked. She couldn't believe her luck when she discovered that Kairi worked just next door, giving her someone to take her breaks with.

The redhead looked up from the counter she was wiping down at her name. "Um... in about," she paused to look at the purple watch she wore on her right wrist, "fifteen minutes. Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well, I've been meaning to try that new restaurant they just opened across the street. You know, Maradei's Italian Deli." Kairi gave her a look filled with annoyance. "Oh, come on, Kai. I know you don't like Italian food, but can't you come with me just this once? Please?" Yuffie managed to put her most pitiful look on her face, hoping her friend would take pity on her.

Rolling her eyes, Kairi consented. "Just go wait for me. I'll be there as soon as I can." The redhead went back to cleaning the counter as Yuffie walked out the door. "I swear, one of these days..." she muttered under her breath but quickly cut it off as a customer walked up to the counter.

Outside, Yuffie looked across the busy street at the deli, delighting in the fact that she had once again won in a minor battle with Kairi. Shaking her head, she crossed the street at the light and proceeded to enter the restaurant to find a table for her and her former roommate. Once inside, she was glad to find the place was air conditioned as she didn't know how much longer she could put up with the stifling August heat. As it was, she could barely step outside without becoming immediately drenched with sweat from the combined humidity and hot sun bearing down on her.

Rolling her eyes, she tried to remember why on earth she had decided to come to this Texas university for school. "I should have gone North, not South," she mumbled as she drummed her fingers impatiently on the table. "Of course," she reminded herself, "if I had done that I would never have met Squall."

The sound of the bells on the door jingling as it opened caught her attention, causing her to turn her head and see that Kairi had finally arrived. The redhead stood hesitantly in the doorway, looking around for her friend before spotting her in the corner, frantically waving her arms around. "Idiot," Kairi hissed as she watched her friend's antics while she walked across to the table.

"It's about time you got here, Kai. I was beginning to think you wussed out on me." Standing up, Yuffie grabbed her friend's arm and dragged her to the counter so they could place their orders, with Kairi making faces at all the menu items and finally deciding on just a bag of chips.

Back at their table, the redhead ripped open her potato chips, glaring at Yuffie the whole time. "I can't believe I let you drag me here," she grumbled as she popped a chip in her mouth. "If I wanted chips for lunch, I could have gone to the gas station to get them. And they would've been a lot cheaper."

Ignoring her, Yuffie bit into her sandwich, dribbling olive oil down her chin. She quickly grabbed a napkin and wiped it off, blushing as she did so. "These sandwiches are great, but boy are they messy. I always seem to get more on me than in me." At this, she glanced down at her t-shirt to see a splotch of oil resting above the pet store's logo, 'Wet Pets n Critters.'

"I'm sure Squall would just love to see how daintily you eat it," Kairi said sarcastically as she watched Yuffie take another large bite of the sandwich.

Swallowing, Yuffie began to laugh softly. "Are you kidding? Squall would love to lick... well, we won't get into that." Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a man walking towards them, his black hair slicked back over his skull and his dark eyes looking right at Yuffie. She put on a nervous smile as he stopped at their table, resting his hands on the edge.

"Allow me to introduce myself to you, ladies," the tall man began, his voice sounding smooth and measured. "I'm Pierce Maradei, owner and manager of all that you see before you." 

Yuffie politely stuck her hand out for him to shake; however, much to her shock, Pierce didn't shake her hand but lifted it to his mouth and gently kissed it. "He he, nice to meet you," she muttered when he released her hand. "I'm Yuffie Kisaragi and this is my friend Kairi Crawford."

Her redheaded friend stuck her hand out as well, expecting it to receive the same treatment as Yuffie's, but, instead, Pierce distractedly shook it. "Nice place you got here, Pierce," she complimented as she went back to eating her chips.

"Yes. I couldn't believe my luck when I found this location. But, never in my wildest dreams, did I expect to find such charming young ladies to be frequenting my deli." Pulling up a chair, he gave Yuffie one of his most captivating smiles.

"Oh, we don't frequent it. This is just our first visit here," the ebony-haired woman said laughingly before stealing one of Kairi's chips and popping it into her mouth.

Raising his eyebrows, the owner of the deli looked directly at her, his dark eyes meeting her indigo ones. "But would it be wishful thinking to believe that you may become so enamored with my deli that you shall become frequent visitors?"

"Well, it is convenient for me, since I work across the street at 'Wet Pets n Critters,'" Yuffie admitted. "And the food is good. I'll just have to try and drag my _boyfriend_ in some time with me. He really loves Italian." Whenever meeting a guy, Yuffie always tried to mention her boyfriend, just to get that out of the way.

Pierce's eyes turned even darker than they already were at the word 'boyfriend,' but he shook his head gently and his eyes returned to their slightly lighter shade. "Yes, I'm sure he will enjoy it." Rising from his seat, he pushed the chair back to the table where it belonged. "Well, it was lovely talking with you girls, but I must return to my duties. I do hope you come in again soon, Yuffie, Katie." 

Kairi rolled her eyes as she watched him walk back into the kitchen. "Slimeball," she whispered, receiving a glare from her friend across from her.

"I thought he was just being polite, Kai," Yuffie said in his defense.

"He was hitting on you, Yuf."

"He wasn't hitting on me," the slightly older girl retorted. "And even if he was, he was hitting on you, too."

"He didn't even get my name right and you're saying he was hitting on _me?_ Are you out of your mind?" Not waiting for a response, she looked at her watch. "Come on, Yuf. Your break is almost over and I really don't want to spend another minute in here."

Yuffie quickly pushed the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth before standing up from the table and following her friend out the door.

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"Honey, I'm home," Yuffie called jokingly as she walked through the door to her and Squall's apartment. She loved to watch and laugh at all the old sitcoms where the wife never worked and always had dinner prepared for when her husband walked through the door. It reminded her of her mother and what her mother expected her to be. Laying her purse on the coffee table, she saw Squall emerge from the kitchen.

"You've been watching too much Nick-at-Nite again, Yuf," he teased as he wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her forehead in the process. "How was work?"

Laughing at the situation, she playfully hit her chest. "Now who's been watching too much Nick-at-Nite? I come home and you ask how was work. Do you have dinner ready for me, too?" 

"Well, actually..." he trailed off as he returned to the kitchen and turned the burner off beneath a pot of boiling something on the stove. "It's just about the only thing I can cook without burning."

As she sniffed the air, the aroma of hot chili wafted across the room to her. "Really, Squall. How can you eat chili in this hot weather?" she jovially demanded as she reached into the kitchen cabinet for two bowls. 

He shrugged his shoulders as he sliced some cheddar cheese. "I don't know. I was just in the mood for chili." Finishing with the cheese, he found the box of crackers in the back on the pantry. "Sometimes I just crave it."

"You aren't pregnant, are you?" Yuffie teased as she set their small table with the bowls, saucers, napkins, and silverware. "'Cause I'm not sure I'm ready to be a father yet."

Deciding to play along, Squall wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed the back of her neck. "But, Yuffie, you'd make a great father."

Yuffie turned around in his arms, throwing her own around his neck. "Are you saying I look like a man?" she questioned with raised eyebrows. "Because if you are, I can make your life a living hell." The twinkle in her eye showed him that she was only teasing.

"You're the one who started this conversation," he reminded her as he captured her lips with his, only to be interrupted by the soft meowing of Dottie, who was also rubbing against their legs. Groaning, Squall broke the kiss. "Damn cat," he muttered. "She's been like that all day."

Squatting down, Yuffie picked the black and white kitten up, causing her to immediately start purring. "Oh, the little baby just missed her mommy, didn't she?" she cooed as she stroked underneath the cat's chin. "And daddy just ignored her, too, didn't he?" Dottie's purring became louder, as though she were agreeing with Yuffie.

"I am _not_ that cat's daddy," the ex-marine grumbled as he carried the pot of chili over to the table, setting it atop a trivet so as to not burn the oaken surface. "You can be her mommy, but I'm not going to be her daddy."

Yuffie rolled her eyes and quickly kissed Dottie's nose before setting her back on the floor. "Men, you can't live with them and they can't live without you," she whispered under her breath and she made her way to the sink to wash her hands. "Squall, do you want tea to drink?"

"No, I'll drink some milk. It helps with the heat of the cayenne pepper."

"Whatever floats your boat." Yuffie pulled out two glasses, filling one with milk and her own with ice water before returning to the table. "There ya go," she said as she put the glass of milk in front of him and took her seat beside him. As she took a bite of chili, her taste buds began to scream in agony and her eyes began to water. Hurriedly grabbing her glass of water, she gulped it down while Squall watched her in amusement.

Squall raised his eyebrows as sweat drops began to form on her forehead and she rushed to the kitchen sink to refill her glass. "Problems, Yuf?" he called from the dining room table, biting back the chuckle that was building up inside.

"Squallie! Why are you letting me sit here in agony?" she demanded as she plopped back down into the chair next to him, her tongue still on fire as she drank her second glass of water.

"There's nothing on TV." Rolling his eyes, he passed his glass of milk to her, unable to see her in pain any longer. "Here, drink this. It really does help." She grabbed the glass and greedily began swallowing the milk, sighing in relief as the burning stopped. Seeing her satisfied expression, Squall smirked. "Told ya."

"Bite me," she retorted as she warily eyed her bowl of chili, wondering if she should brave another bite.

"I think I'll save that for later, Yuf," Squall said, winking as he did so.

Ignoring Squall's comment, Yuffie decided that her tongue had been tortured enough and she carried her bowl to the sink, pouring its contents down the garbage disposal. "Sorry, but it's just too hot for me," she apologized as she pulled open the refrigerator door and searched for something else to eat.

* * *

Standing on a ladder, Yuffie carefully pushed the bags of dog food and cat food onto the top shelf, keeping her dizziness in check by not looking down. Heights had always frightened her; even as a child, she refused to climb trees with her friends, insisting that she would fall and break her neck. Just as she placed the last bag on the shelf, she felt the dizziness return and she began to sway backwards, flailing her arms in an attempt to keep upright. 

But, before she could fall, she felt two hands catch her around the waist and hold her steady. Sighing with relief, she turned around to thank her savior, finding Pierce Maradei standing there, his hands still placed firmly on her waist. "Wow, if you hadn't been there, Pierce, I would've gone SPLAT!" she exclaimed as she climbed off the ladder.

"Yes, it was quite fortunate that I happened to see you beginning to fall," he said in his deep voice as he helped her down the ladder. "What caused you to fall?"

"Oh, that. Well, you see, I've always had a fear of heights and sometimes I get dizzy while I'm up there." She shuddered as she realized how close she had come to falling. "But, most of the time, I'm able to control it." Looking down, she pointedly stared at his hands which were still around her waist.

Seeing her look of apprehension, Pierce removed his hands from her waist only to place them on her shoulders. "My dear, you shouldn't climb ladders if you're afraid of heights. Besides, why does a woman of your caliber work in a place like this?" he sneered as he looked around the pet store.

The term 'my dear' threw Yuffie for a moment, but then she decided he was just one of those people who called everyone dear and shook it off. "I work here because I like it. I love animals and I love the people I work with." She back up a step to try and get his hands off her shoulders.

Pierce took a step forward as she backed up. "A woman of your beauty should be put on a pedestal and worshiped. And it appears your so-called boyfriend doesn't by allowing you to work here. Or allowing you to work at all." By now, he had Yuffie backed up against the shelves.

_Okay, maybe Kairi was right. He is definitely hitting on me, _Yuffie thought as she looked around nervously. Taking a deep breath, she steadied her nerves and looked directly into Pierce's dark eyes. "First of all, I like working here. It was my choice. Secondly, my boyfriend doesn't 'allow' me to do anything. I do what I want. I don't let anyone control me. And, finally, if you don't get your hands off me, you're not gonna have any." 

Withdrawing his hands, the tall man backed away, momentarily narrowing his eyes before smiling apologetically. "My apologies, Yuffie. I meant no harm, I was only trying to understand why a woman such as you would work here." Not giving her a chance to reply, he spun on his heel and strode towards the exit.

Yuffie leaned against the shelf and tiredly massaged her temples while glaring at the ladder as though it were all its fault. Shaking her head, she approached the ladder and gave it a swift kick, resulting in her hopping around on one foot as she rubbed her other. "Damn ladder!"

Her co-worker, Michelle, came running the corner when she heard Yuffie yelling. "Are you alright? I heard..." she began, but trailed off and started laughing at the sight of her friend cursing a ladder.

"I'm fine," Yuffie hissed through clenched teeth. She stopped jumping around and lowered her foot slowly to the floor, testing to see if it hurt when she walked. Realizing her foot was fine, she marched to the ladder and quickly folded it. "This demon ladder's going back to the back of the store, where it can't hurt anyone."

"Yes, Yuffie. Blame it all on the ladder," Michelle teased as she left her friend to the task of taking care of the 'demon ladder' while she went back to the cash register up front. She paused a moment when she remembered something. "Oh, by the way," she called back to Yuffie, "Mary told me to tell you that you're closing tomorrow night."

"Okay, that'll be fine," Yuffie hollered back without turning around to see the dark eyes silently watching her from the exit.

* * *

"Finally home," Yuffie whispered as she opened the door to their apartment, greeted by the sight of Squall at the dining room table with a stack of papers. Seeing that he hadn't even noticed she had walked in, she snuck up behind him and placed her hands over his eyes. "Guess who?" 

Squall leaned back in his chair, his head falling against her chest. "Um... gee... I don't know. But I do hope that it's some beautiful woman that come to rescue me from balancing the checkbook."

Yuffie leaned over and kissed the top of his nose before uncovering his eyes. "Well, you're half right. I have come to rescue you, but about the beautiful part, well..." she trailed off, smiling impishly.

"You know you're gorgeous." 

"I was hoping you would say that." She looked around the table at the piles of receipts and letters. "So, I guess I'll go try and cook dinner tonight since you're busy in here. But, I can't guarantee that it'll be edible." As she headed for the kitchen, she felt him grab her hand.

He kissed it gently, then pulled her over to him. "We're going out to dinner tonight, Yuf." Setting her down in his lap, kissed her cheek. "We haven't been out in awhile, you know."

Yuffie put a hand on his cheek as she gave him a quick kiss. "I know. Ever since I moved in we hardly ever go anywhere. Well," she smiled sardonically, "unless you count that trip to my parents' house last month."

Shuddering reflexively, Squall shook his head to get the memory out. "That doesn't count. I'm talking about just you and me, going someplace together."

Nodding, Yuffie rose from his lap and started down the hall. "I'm going to take a quick shower first, okay? You don't want me smelling like a pet store while we're eating." She didn't wait for an answer as she continued to the bathroom, where she quickly turned the shower on to allow the water to heat up. Stripping her clothes off, she stepped into the hot water and allowed the pinpricks of searing water to beat her back and neck, thinking about the way Pierce had acted at the store earlier.

She shivered uncontrollably at the memory of what he had said and the way he had looked at her. At the time, she was too furious with his words to really put it into proper perspective, but now, she realized that she would have to avoid him. Massaging the shampoo into her wet hair, she continued to dwell upon the man's actions. He apparently was interested in her, even though she had no interest whatsoever in him, which she hoped she made clear.

Sighing, she stepped out of the shower and dried herself off, wrapping the towel around her body as she stepped into the bedroom to dress. As she glanced through the closet, she realized that Squall hadn't told her where they were going for dinner, and, thus, she did not know how to dress for it. "Squall," she called from the bedroom.

A moment later, he arrived at the door, a questioning look on his face. "What?" he asked as he glanced at her towel-clad form. 

"Where are we going for dinner? I need to know before I get dressed." She continued to dig through the closet.

"Well, since I know how much you love Italian, I thought we could try that new place, Maradei's Italian deli," he suggested.

"No," Yuffie declared adamantly. "Not unless it's takeout."

Genuinely confused with her refusal, Squall approached her. "What's wrong, Yuf? You usually jump at the chance to eat Italian." As she refused to meet his gaze, he gently cupped her chin and forced her to look at him. "Something happened today, didn't it?" he asked quietly.

She shook her head and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "No, I'm fine. It's just... uh... I heard they have really bad service there," she lied.

"Okay, Yuffie. But," he paused and met her eyes with his own, "when you're ready to tell me what happened today, I'll listen. You know that, right?" Seeing her imperceptible nod, he kissed her forehead. "Well, how about 'The Olive Garden,' then? That sound good to you?"

Giving him a bright smile, Yuffie pulled a short black dress out of the closet. "Sounds perfect."

* * *

Humming softly the next night, Yuffie stepped out of the pet store and into the cool night air as she closed the store for the night. She really hated being the one to lock it up, but her manager needed her to do it this one time because no one else could. Slipping the key into the lock, she quickly twisted it, then tested the door to make sure it had indeed locked. Satisfied, she dropped the key into her purse and started walking towards her car, which was parked behind the building, avoiding the puddles that had formed from the shower earlier in the day. 

A rustling noise behind caught her attention, causing her to turn around and squint in the dim lighting of the alley. "Hello?" she timidly called out, clutching her purse tightly to her chest, her car keys firmly gripped in one hand.

"Yuffie," a deep voice slickly called out. "What are you doing out here? At night? And all alone?" A dark figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing someone familiar to her.

Yuffie sighed with relief when she realized it was only Pierce. Although nervous around him, she felt no reason to fear him. The block of icy fear that had formed around her heart began to melt a little. "Pierce," she gasped, covering her heart with her hand, "you shouldn't sneak up on someone like that. I nearly had a heart attack."

He took a few steps towards her, a smirk appearing on his mouth. "You really shouldn't be out here alone at night. No telling what kind of people haunt these places, waiting for a young woman to find herself alone out here with no protection."

"Well, you're here. So, I don't think I need to worry about it," Yuffie stated calmly as she started walking towards her car, only to be stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She slowly spun around to look at him.

"Yuffie, since the roads are wet, might I offer to take you home. I fear for your safety driving upon them." He gave her a sincere look, smiling slightly.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather drive my baby home tonight," she replied as she started for her car again. "Don't worry, I'm a safe driver." Pierce followed her to the small white sedan, opening the door for her after she unlocked it. "Um... thanks," she muttered to him as she stuck her keys in the ignition and tried to start her car. The engine turned over, but then died. Frowning, Yuffie tried again, only to get the same result.

Pierce still stood beside her car, giving her a sympathetic glance. "My dear, since it seems your car is not working, I insist upon driving you home." He offered her his arm, which she refused as she got out of the car.

Slamming the door in frustration, Yuffie nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Damn it. Stupid car," she hissed as she kicked the front tire before following Pierce across the street to his car, a sleek black Thunderbird.

As Pierce opened the passenger side door for her, she realized the car wasn't actually black, but a dark green that appeared black in the dim lights. She quickly lowered herself onto the black leather seat and waiting for Pierce to join her in the car and take her home. "Do you close the store often by yourself, Yuffie?" he asked as he sat in the driver's seat, starting the engine immediately.

"No, this was the first and only time, actually." She pointed for him to turn right as she said this. "I hate being alone in the store. It creeps me out." Pierce followed her directions as they made idle chat on the short drive. As he pulled into the parking lot, Yuffie was surprised when he drove his car to the furthest corner and killed the engine. "Pierce, my apartment's over there," she said as she pointed out a building in the distance.

"Ah, well I didn't want anyone to scratch my car while I walk you to your door," he explained rather smoothly, turning to face her and offering her a polite smile.

Not liking where this was going, Yuffie realized she needed to set him straight. "Pierce, I really appreciate you driving me home, but I don't think my boyfriend will appreciate you walking me to our door." She placed her hand on the door handle and started to open it, but was stopped by his hand grabbing her knee.

"What your boyfriend doesn't know won't hurt him," he whispered as he twisted his body around and leaned towards her, quickly placing a hand behind her neck and drawing her to him.

Reaching behind her, Yuffie managed to find the door handle and push the door open, spilling out onto the ground below. She looked up and realized that Pierce had already gotten out of the driver's side and was on his way around the car. Jumping up, she decided to run, but was stopped when he caught her and pushed her against the hood of his car. "Let me go!" she shouted as she struggled against him.

"You don't really mean that, Yuffie. You want this as much as I do. Why else would you accept a ride home from a man you barely know? What would your boyfriend say to that?" he whispered as he lowered his mouth to hers, managing to grab both of her wrists in one of his. 

Yuffie bucked beneath him, trying to gain some leverage and push him off. As he reached under her shirt, his weight shifted, giving her the edge she needed to roughly bring her knee up into his crotch. His hand ripped her shirt as he dropped to the ground in pain. Taking advantage of the situation, Yuffie started to run across the empty lot to her apartment, gasping for breath when she reached it.

She rushed through the door, slamming it shut behind her and leaned against it as she clutched her side and caught her breath. Hearing the noise the door made, Squall rushed out of the bedroom, immediately noticing her torn shirt. "Yuffie, are you alright?" he demanded worriedly as he reached her. "What happened to your shirt?"

Remembering Pierce's words, _why else would you accept a ride home from a man you barely knew? What would your boyfriend say to that?, _she quickly spun a lie. "A dog," she gasped. "A dog chased me across the parking lot and it grabbed my shirt." She pushed past him and headed down the hall before he could answer. "I'm going to take a shower."

In the bathroom, Yuffie first brushed her teeth for a good ten minutes, trying to get the taste of Pierce out of her mouth, before getting in the shower and scrubbing the places he had touched her raw. She silently berated herself for accepting a ride home from him. She should have just gone back into the store and called someone, she kept reminding herself. She should have listened to what Kairi had said about him. Stepping out of the shower, she clutched her head as all the 'should haves' floated through her mind.

She quickly changed into a pair of Squall's boxers and one of his t-shirts before leaving the bathroom, finding the lights off in the bedroom and Squall already in bed. Lifting the covers, she quietly slid beneath them and lay her head on her pillow, trembling as she thought of what might have happened out there in the parking lot.

Wrapping an arm around her, Squall pulled her closer to him, feeling the tremors course through her frame. "Yuffie, what happened?" he whispered, genuinely worried about her. He knew she wasn't telling him something. A shudder jolted through her, soon followed by a flood of tears, causing Squall more worry. Turning on the lamp, he grabbed her shoulders and made her face him. "Yuffie, tell me what's wrong? I can't help you if I don't know."

She wrapped her arms around herself protectively and squeezed her eyes shut, willing the tears to stop. "My car wouldn't start," she began taking ragged breaths. "And...and... Pierce was there and he offered me a ride home." 

"Who's Pierce?" Squall interrupted.

"Pierce Maradei, the owner of the Italian deli." She paused, opening her eyes to look at him before turning her head. "He... he... drove me here but then..." She stopped when she saw the rage building in her lover's eyes.

"The ripped shirt?" he prodded, hoping he was wrong. Yuffie nodded, closing her eyes again as more tears welled up. "The bastard," he let out in a deadly hiss as his icy blue eyes narrowed. Looking back down at Yuffie, he gaze softened. "Did he hurt you?"

"No. I managed to get away." By now, she was quietly weeping, brushing away the tears with her hands.

Squall pulled her to him tightly, pressing her face against his chest. "Why didn't you tell me?" he whispered as he gently stroked her hair and rubbed her back, trying to stay calm and not rush out of the room to murder the man.

"Because of what he said. He asked me what you would think about me getting a ride home with a man I barely knew." Her weeping turned to sobs as she buried her face into her lover's chest.

Squall sat up, leaning against the headboard and pulling Yuffie up with him. He rocked her gently, kissing the top of her head. "It's okay. You're safe now," he murmured, all the while holding back a deep rage at the man who hurt her.

* * *

"Yuffie, c'mon. It's time to get up," Squall whispered in her ear as he gently shook her shoulder, smiling as he watched her frown and roll over. "Yuffie, we need to go see what's wrong with your car... or, your baby, as you like to call it." 

Opening her eyes, she stared at him for a moment, confusion marring her features. "It wasn't a nightmare, was it?" She saw the anger flash behind her lover's icy blue eyes, but was soon replaced by concern. Sitting up, she wrapped her arms around herself and drew up her knees. "I was hoping it had only been a nightmare," she murmured.

Squall lowered himself onto the bed and pulled her against him. "No, it wasn't a nightmare. But, don't worry. I won't let it happen again." Kissing her cheek, he got off the bed and pulled her up with him. "Now, come on. We need to go check on your car."

Sighing resignedly, Yuffie grabbed some clothes and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and change. She emerged from the bathroom and headed to the living room, where she found Squall had already eaten breakfast and had a bagel with cream cheese waiting for her. "In a hurry, Squall?" she asked playfully as she bit into her breakfast.

"Your car may have to towed somewhere, Yuf. And that might take awhile," he replied as he ushered her out the door. In the parking lot, he noticed her apprehensive glance to the back corner. "That's where it happened, isn't it?" he whispered as he draped his arm over her shoulders and guided her to his truck.

Grimacing, Yuffie threw the rest of her bagel to the birds, sickened at the reminder of the night before. "Squall, if it's okay, can we not talk about it right now?" Squall consented to her request and opened the truck door for her, proceeding to help her into the truck and buckle her seatbelt for her. She gave him a wry look. "I am an adult, you know. I know how to belt myself in."

"I know, but I like doing things for you," he chuckled as he gave he a light kiss before shutting the door and walking around to the driver's side. The engine roared to life as he started it and he pulled out of the parking lot, turning in the direction of the place of Yuffie's employment. "Tell me what your car did last night."

"Well, it started, but then died right away. I tried it twice, with the same results." She leaned her head against the window. "I've never had problems with it before. And I'm helpless when it comes to what's under the hood. I'm lucky to even know how to check the oil."

Squall reached over and gently squeezed her knee, saying, "But I love you anyway."

"You better, because you know how much I love you." Yuffie took his hand in her own and entwined their fingers, only releasing it when he had to use both hands for a sharp turn. 

A few minutes later, they were in the employee's parking lot behind the store, examining her car. Yuffie gave Squall the keys and he opened the door and tried to start it, only to have the same results as she did the previous night. He squinted his eyes and looked at the gauges. "Yuffie, you're out of gas."

"What?! But, I filled the car up just yesterday. Right before I came to work." Leaning disgustedly against her car, she rubbed her forehead. "The gauge must be wrong. I mean..." she trailed off as another thought hit her. "Pierce," she hissed under her breath. After all, he just happened to be there last night when she had car trouble.

Squall saw her marching across the parking lot to a small shop nearby, which shared the same employee parking lot as the pet store did. "Yuffie, where are you going?" he cried as he stumbled out of the car and ran after her. When he finally caught up with her, she was already inside, discussing something with the owner of the shop.

"Did you see someone unfamiliar hanging around the back of the store sometime yesterday?" she asked quickly, gesturing towards the cars.

"Yes, ma'am, I did. I assumed he was a new employee at the pet store seeing as I didn't hire him," the elderly man told her.

Yuffie closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Was it an oily guy with black hair, beady little eyes, no chin, and a nose like a hatchet?"

"Walks like he owns the universe? Yep, that's him."

Smiling sweetly, Yuffie thanked the shop owner then dragged Squall back to her car. "Is there anything else wrong with my car besides being out of gas?" she demanded.

"I don't know, yet. I haven't looked under the hood." As he said this, he reached into the car and pulled the lever to release the hood. Once it was raised, he spent a few minutes checking the various fluid levels of the car. "I don't think so. There's only one way to find out. We'll get some gas and come back and see if it starts."

Luckily, Squall kept an empty gas can in his truck, which they filled up at the nearest gas station. He poured the gasoline into the car, signaling Yuffie to try and start it once he had finished. The engine came to life with no problems. Killing it, she stepped out of the car and leaned against the hood. "My tank was siphoned, wasn't it?" she asked Squall quietly.

"That's what it looks like," he admitted, already believing he knew who had done it.

As if reading his mind, Yuffie started talking again. "I'll give you two guesses as to who did it."

"Pierce," they both said at the same time. 

Looking at her watch, Yuffie groaned. "I've got to go. I'm supposed to meet Aerith for lunch today since it's my day off." She noticed Squall glaring at the deli across the street. "Squall, don't do anything that will get you arrested. Okay? Promise me."

He turned back to look at her, a smile gracing his lips. "I promise." Having received the promise, Yuffie climbed into her car and drove off, leaving Squall alone with his thoughts. "Of course, I didn't promise not to hurt anyone," he muttered as he started walking across the street and into the deli.

Reaching the counter, he waved an employee over. "I'm looking for Pierce Maradei. Is he in?" Nodding, the employee went to the manager's room, returning with the manager/owner following him.

Pierce reached a hand across the counter to shake hands. "I am Pierce Maradei. And how may I help you? I hope there is not something wrong with the food." 

Squall glared at him. "I'm Yuffie's boyfriend." Squall took sick pleasure as he saw the man's face pale. "And I have something to discuss with you, but I don't think you want to do it out here. In public."

The owner lifted the barrier that prevented customers from going to the back of the kitchen. "Right this way," he mumbled as he led him to the office in the back. As soon as the door was closed, Squall slammed him against the wall. "I can call the police," Pierce declared as he glared into Squall's icy blue stare.

"And tell them what? That the boyfriend of the girl you tried to rape is beating you to a pulp? I'm sure that would go over real well," Squall growled as he tried to control his rage.

"I don't know what Yuffie told you, but I did not try to rape her. She was coming onto me--"

"If you know what's good for you, you won't finish that sentence. I _know_ Yuffie. And she doesn't do things like that." He paused for a minute, waiting for Pierce to say something and give him an excuse to smash his skull. "And I also know that you siphoned her gas tank. That's two offenses against you. I'm sure the police will be glad to arrest you."

Gulping, Pierce found his voice. "And what do you propose? Surely you didn't come here to tell me you're going to call the police."

Squall released him, but didn't back up. "Smart man. No, I'm just going to tell you that if you _ever_ so much as look at Yuffie again, I'll beat you to a bloody pulp. And, no, I don't want the police involved because that would take away my fun if you ever break our bargain." Seeing Pierce nod, Squall turned to leave, but stopped at the door. "And, might I add, I was a marine for eight years. I know more ways to kill a man than you could ever dream of."

* * *

_Author's Note: There, the much awaited chapter for this story. Sorry if it's not up to snuff. I haven't been inspired for this story in awhile and I don't know how long it'll be before I can write another one for it. Anyways, I didn't like this chapter, but maybe you'll think differently. Review and let me know._


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